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64,847,683 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon%20dioxide%20recorder | A carbon dioxide recorder (or CO2 recorder) is a machine that can record the level of carbon dioxide at different times. It is more sophisticated than a carbon dioxide detector which only has to indicate the presence of carbon dioxide. There are three main types of carbon dioxide recorder: chemical, physical, and electrical.
Mechanism
Chemical
The chemical carbon dioxide recorder, sucks the gas through a chemical that absorbs carbon dioxide. They include the Simmance combustion recorder; Hays automatic CO2 recorder, and electroflo CO2 recorder.
The Arndt carbon dioxide recorder used a potassium hydroxide solution to absorb carbon dioxide.
The Uehling recorder uses the chemical, sodium hydroxide to absorb the carbon dioxide, and measures the change in volume of the gas.
Physical
The physical carbon dioxide recorder, includes Webster CO2 recorder. The Remarex carbon dioxide recorder uses vanes spinning in the gas under test and the air.
Electrical
Electrical recorders use a thermal conductivity method, where the resistance of a heated wire is measured.
Form
Carbon dioxide recorders can be handheld, or wall mount. They can have an audible or light indicator alarm if level is too high. Units can also measure humidity and temperature.
Application
Carbon dioxide recorders have been used in schools and hospitals to determine whether enough fresh air is being circulated. A carbon dioxide recorder can be used to measure the composition of flue gas to check if combustion is at its most efficient. In agriculture, they can be used to measure levels of carbon dioxide in greenhouses, where the levels are deliberately elevated.
See also
Explosive gas leak detector
References
Gas sensors
Carbon dioxide | Carbon dioxide recorder | [
"Chemistry"
] | 324 | [
"Greenhouse gases",
"Carbon dioxide"
] |
64,852,005 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyndall%27s%20bar%20breaker | Tyndall's bar breaker is a physical demonstration experiment to demonstrate the forces created by thermal expansion and shrinkage. It was demonstrated 1867 by the Irish scientist John Tyndall in his Christmas lectures for a "juvenile auditory".
Setup
The bar breaker experiment comprises a very rigid frame (d) and a massive connecting rod (b). The rod is held on one side by a cast iron bar (c) that is going to be broken in the experiment and, at the other end, by a nut (a) that is used to compensate the thermal expansion.
Procedure
During the experiment the steel rod (b) is heated with a flame (e) up to red heat temperature. During the heating phase the thermal expansion of the rod (b) is compensated by tightly fastening the nut (a). Taking away the flame starts the cooling phase. Typically the bar (c) breaks within a few minutes with a loud bang or it is at least deformed significantly.
References
Media
Physics experiments
Physics education | Tyndall's bar breaker | [
"Physics"
] | 206 | [
"Applied and interdisciplinary physics",
"Experimental physics",
"Physics experiments",
"Physics education"
] |
64,858,972 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OroraTech | OroraTech is a German aerospace start-up company providing wildfire monitoring by employing nanosatellites. It was founded in 2018 as a university spin-off at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The headquarters are in Munich, Germany. In June 2023, OroraTech joined the Copernicus Programme of the European Space Agency.
History
OroraTech's key idea had been developed during the MOVE-II CubeSat project and WARR at the TUM. Starting as a spin-off in January 2017, the company was incorporated as Orbital Oracle Technologies GmbH (short: OroraTech) in September 2018. Since OroraTech's technology is based on academic research at the TUM, TUM professors Ulrich Walter, a former astronaut, and Alexander W. Koch act as advisors to the company.
Technology
Wildfire detection using infrared sensors in space had been proposed as a technology since the 1990s. Technological advances, notably sunk space launch cost, enabled non-state actors to enter the market. As such, OroraTech operates a software platform for the detection and monitoring of wildfires based on measuring thermal-infrared radiation from space. The company is using data from existing satellites and develops their own constellation of 3-U CubeSats with thermal-infrared cameras to further improve temporal and spatial resolution of fire detection.
The software platform generates various overlays on base maps to visualize fire risk and fire detections. At the current stage, the platform uses data from twelve satellites in polar and geostationary orbits, including such by NASA, ESA, and EUMETSAT. In early 2020, the platform had around 100 active users.
The satellite technology is based on research from the MOVE-II project at the Chair of Astronautics (LRT) at the TUM. During the project, a 1-Unit CubeSat was launched with SpaceX in December 2018. OroraTech's first nanosatellite, based on the original CubeSat, was developed to reach 10 cm x 10 cm x 34 cm in size, weighing around 1.2 kg, and it was launched on 13 January 2022 as part of SpaceX's Transporter-3 rideshare mission. The satellite features an uncooled thermal-infrared imager for space applications, and GPU-accelerated on-orbit processing to reduce downlink latency and bandwidth for quicker wildfire alert dissemination, making it particularly efficient in tackling the issue of detecting wildfires in late afternoon images.
As of June 2022, the company plans to put its next eight satellites into orbit by the end of 2023, aiming for a detection time of 30 minutes. A second satellite, once again hosted on a Lemur-2 cubesat platform, was launched on 12 June 2023 on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket as part of SpaceX Transporter-8 rideshare mission.
Field application
The technology is used by Wildfire Services in British Columbia (Canada) and New South Wales (Australia) for wildfire detection and wildfire suppression. International media used images from OroraTech's wildfire service for coverage of the 2020 wildfire season in California,
Oregon, British Columbia, and Siberia.
References
Aerospace engineering organizations
Remote sensing companies
Scientific organisations based in Germany | OroraTech | [
"Engineering"
] | 662 | [
"Aeronautics organizations",
"Aerospace engineering organizations",
"Aerospace engineering"
] |
64,860,277 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%203156 | NGC 3156 is a lenticular galaxy located in the constellation Sextans. It is located at a distance of about 75 million light-years from Earth and is forming a pair with NGC 3169. It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on December 13, 1784.
It is a member of the NGC 3166 Group of galaxies, which is a member of the Leo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the right edge of the Virgo Supercluster.
Gallery
References
External links
Sextans
3156
Lenticular galaxies
029730 | NGC 3156 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 118 | [
"Sextans",
"Constellations"
] |
64,860,398 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu%20Bakarr%20Kanu | Abu Bakarr Kanu is a Sierra Leonean analytical chemist who is a professor at Winston-Salem State University. His research considers separation-type instrumentation for the rapid analysis of chemical and biological compounds. Kanu is also involved with education and outreach programmes, and works to bring hands-on chemistry lessons to young people in Sierra Leone.
Early life and education
Kanu was the first member of his family to attend university. He attended University of Sierra Leone, where he studied chemistry in Fourah Bay College. He was involved with track and field as an undergraduate student. Kanu was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship, and moved from Sierra Leone to Manchester for his graduate studies. When he arrived at the University of Manchester Kanu started to work on gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. For his doctoral degree he developed miniaturised systems for environmental monitoring. His doctoral research formed the basis of two patents focussing on membrane sampling, which reduced sampling time by 60%.
Research and career
After earning his doctoral degree, Kanu started a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington State University. He worked alongside Herbert H. Hill, Jr. on the development of ion mobility mass spectrometry. He proposed that this work could be used to reduce false positives in airport screening for explosives and drugs, and also showed that it was possible to separate drugs using the drift gas selectivity of ion-mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry, and this work has since been cited over 1000 times. He has applied ion-mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry to identify environmental pollutants in both indoor air and contaminated water. He has created a novel sampling system that incorporates a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane and nanoparticles for one-step sampling, isolation, separation and desorption of environmental pollutants.
Alongside his academic research, Kanu works to improve the representation of minority students in science. He leads undergraduate research programmes and supports student chapters of the American Chemical Society and National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers. Kanu leads the annual Extreme Forensic Instrumentation Experience Lab at Winston-Salem State University, which sees high school seniors take part in a research project themed around a crime drama. He works with Chemists Without Borders to introduce young people in Sierra Leone to practical chemistry skills and help to rebuild the education system after the Civil War. As part of this work, Kanu created affordable green chemistry lab kits, which included materials and manuals.
Selected publications
]
References
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Sierra Leonean scientists
Fourah Bay College alumni
Analytical chemists
Alumni of the University of Manchester
Winston-Salem State University faculty | Abu Bakarr Kanu | [
"Chemistry"
] | 552 | [
"Analytical chemists"
] |
64,860,796 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tread%20%28film%29 | Tread is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Paul Solet. It premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2019, and to limited theatres and on Netflix on February 28, 2020.
Synopsis
American welder Marvin Heemeyer goes on a violent rampage with a secretly fortified bulldozer made up of steel, concrete, and guns after feuding with members of the small town of Granby, Colorado.
Reception
The film was positively reviewed and has approval rating, based on reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
References
External links
2019 documentary films
2019 films
American documentary films
Documentary films about violence
Documentary films about Colorado
Grand County, Colorado
Bulldozers
2010s English-language films
Films directed by Paul Solet
2010s American films
Films scored by Austin Wintory
English-language documentary films | Tread (film) | [
"Engineering"
] | 154 | [
"Engineering vehicles",
"Bulldozers"
] |
64,862,660 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham%E2%80%93Rothschild%20theorem | In mathematics, the Graham–Rothschild theorem is a theorem that applies Ramsey theory to combinatorics on words and combinatorial cubes. It is named after Ronald Graham and Bruce Lee Rothschild, who published its proof in 1971. Through the work of Graham, Rothschild, and in 1972, it became part of the foundations of structural Ramsey theory. A special case of the Graham–Rothschild theorem motivates the definition of Graham's number, a number that was popularized by Martin Gardner in Scientific American and listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest number ever appearing in a mathematical proof.
Background
The theorem involves sets of strings, all having the same length , over a finite alphabet, together with a group acting on the alphabet. A combinatorial cube is a subset of strings determined by constraining some positions of the string to contain a fixed letter of the alphabet, and by constraining other pairs of positions to be equal to each other or to be related to each other by the group action. This determination can be specified more formally by means of a labeled parameter word, a string with wildcard characters in the positions that are not constrained to contain a fixed letter and with additional labels describing which wildcard characters must be equal or related by the group action. The dimension of the combinatorial cube is the number of free choices that can be made for these wildcard characters. A combinatorial cube of dimension one is called a combinatorial line.
For instance, in the game of tic-tac-toe, the nine cells of a tic-tac-toe board can be specified by strings of length two over the three-symbol alphabet {1,2,3} (the Cartesian coordinates of the cells), and the winning lines of three cells form combinatorial lines. Horizontal lines are obtained by fixing the -coordinate (the second position of the length-two string) and letting the -coordinate be chosen freely, and vertical lines are obtained by fixing the -coordinate and letting the -coordinate be chosen freely. The two diagonal lines of the tic-tac-toe board can be specified by a parameter word with two wildcard characters that are either constrained to be equal (for the main diagonal) or constrained to be related by a group action that swaps the 1 and 3 characters (for the antidiagonal).
The set of all combinatorial cubes of dimension , for strings of length over an alphabet with group action , is denoted . A subcube of a combinatorial cube is another combinatorial cube of smaller dimension that forms a subset of the set of strings in the larger combinatorial cube. The subcubes of a combinatorial cube can also be described by a natural composition action on parameter words, obtained by substituting the symbols of one parameter word for the wildcards of another.
Statement
With the notation above, the Graham–Rothschild theorem takes as parameters an alphabet , group action , finite number of colors , and two dimensions of combinatorial cubes and with . It states that, for every combination of , , , , and , there exists a string length such that, if each combinatorial cube in is assigned one of colors, then there exists a combinatorial cube in all of whose -dimensional subcubes are assigned the same color.
An infinitary version of the Graham–Rothschild theorem is also known.
Applications
The special case of the Graham–Rothschild theorem with , , and the trivial group action is the Hales–Jewett theorem,
stating that if all long-enough strings over a given alphabet are colored, then there exists a monochromatic combinatorial line.
Graham's number is a bound for the Graham–Rothschild theorem with , , , , and a nontrivial group action. For these parameters, the set of strings of length over a binary alphabet describes the vertices of an -dimensional hypercube, every two of which form a combinatorial line. The set of all combinatorial lines can be described as the edges of a complete graph on the vertices. The theorem states that, for a high-enough dimension , whenever this set of edges of the complete graph is assigned two colors, there exists a monochromatic combinatorial plane: a set of four hypercube vertices that belong to a common geometric plane and have all six edges assigned the same color. Graham's number is an upper bound for this number , calculated using repeated exponentiation; it is believed to be significantly larger than the smallest for which the statement of the Graham–Rothschild theorem is true.
References
Ramsey theory
Combinatorics on words | Graham–Rothschild theorem | [
"Mathematics"
] | 945 | [
"Theorems in combinatorics",
"Theorems in discrete mathematics",
"Combinatorics",
"Combinatorics on words",
"Ramsey theory"
] |
64,862,669 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viltolarsen | Viltolarsen, sold under the brand name Viltepso, is a medication used for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Viltolarsen is a Morpholino antisense oligonucleotide.
The most common side effects include upper respiratory tract infection, injection site reaction, cough, and pyrexia (fever).
Viltolarsen was approved for medical use in the United States in August 2020. After golodirsen was approved in December 2019, viltolarsen is the second approved targeted treatment for people with this type of mutation in the United States. Approximately 8% of people with DMD have a mutation that is amenable to exon 53 skipping.
Medical uses
Viltolarsen is indicated for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in people who have a confirmed mutation of the DMD gene that is amenable to exon 53 skipping.
DMD is a rare genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle deterioration and weakness. It is the most common type of muscular dystrophy. DMD is caused by mutations in the DMD gene that results in an absence of dystrophin, a protein that helps keep muscle cells intact. The first symptoms are usually seen between three and five years of age and worsen over time. DMD occurs in approximately one out of every 3,600 male infants worldwide; in rare cases, it can affect females.
Adverse effects
The most common side effects include upper respiratory tract infection, injection site reaction, cough, and pyrexia (fever).
Although kidney toxicity was not observed in the clinical studies, the clinical experience is limited, and kidney toxicity, including potentially fatal glomerulonephritis, has been observed after administration of some antisense oligonucleotides.
History
Viltolarsen was developed by Nippon Shinyaku and the NCNP based on pre-clinical study conducted by Toshifumi Yokota and colleagues, and evaluated in two clinical studies with a total of 32 participants, all of whom were male and had genetically confirmed DMD. The increase in dystrophin production was established in one of those two studies, a study that included sixteen DMD participants, with eight participants receiving viltolarsen at the recommended dose. In the study, dystrophin levels increased, on average, from 0.6% of normal at baseline to 5.9% of normal at week 25. Trial 1 provided data for evaluation of the benefits of viltolarsen. The combined populations from both trials provided data for evaluation of the side effects of viltolarsen. Trial 1 was conducted at six sites in the United States and Canada and Trial 2 was conducted at five sites in Japan. All participants in both trials were on a stable dose of corticosteroids for at least three months before entering the trials.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that the applicant's data demonstrated an increase in dystrophin production that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit in people with DMD who have a confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene amenable to exon 53 skipping. A clinical benefit of the drug has not been established. In making this decision, the FDA considered the potential risks associated with the drug, the life-threatening and debilitating nature of the disease, and the lack of available therapies.
The application for viltolarsen was granted priority review designation and the FDA granted the approval to NS Pharma, Inc.
Society and culture
Economics
Viltolarsen costs around per year for a person that weighs .
References
Further reading
External links
Antisense RNA
Muscular dystrophy
Therapeutic gene modulation
Orphan drugs
Muscle protectors | Viltolarsen | [
"Biology"
] | 775 | [
"Therapeutic gene modulation"
] |
72,170,992 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National%20Earthquake%20Hazards%20Reduction%20Program | The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) was established in 1977 by the United States Congress as part of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977. The original stated purpose for NEHRP was "to reduce the risks of life and property from future Earthquakes in the United States through the establishment and maintenance of an effective earthquake hazards reduction program." Congress periodically reviews and reauthorizes NEHRP, with the most recent review happening in 2018.
NEHRP supports basic research that expands our knowledge of earthquakes and their impacts.
The four basic earthquake hazard reduction goals of NEHRP have remained the same since its creation:
Develop effective practices/policies and accelerate their implementation.
Improve techniques for reducing vulnerabilities of facilities and systems.
Improve earthquake hazards identification and risk assessment methods and their use.
Improve the understanding of earthquakes and their effects.
To accomplish these goals, NEHRP developed the Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction to advise congress on the programs progress in relation to:
Improved design and construction methods and best practices
Land use controls and redevelopment
Prediction and early-warning systems
Coordinated emergency preparedness plans
Public education/involvement programs
Primary NEHRP agencies
NEHRP has four designated federal agencies that contribute to the program:
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the United States Department of Homeland Security
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the United States Department of Commerce (NIST is the lead NEHRP agency)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
United States Geological Survey (USGS) of the United States Department of the Interior
The majority of NEHRP's research activities are accomplished through the National Science Foundation funding of earthquake-related research in earth sciences, social sciences and engineering. NSF also provides post-earthquake empirical research using reconnaissance teams. These teams visit affected regions documenting the impacts, performance of construction and response/recovery.
FEMA's primary role is to implement and distribute the final research products of NEHRP. This is done through the creation of a variety of published materials made available to 3rd parties.
Recent research
In 2020, NHERP and its partner agencies published "The 2020 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures." The report comprises a summary of a 5 year research project and includes 37 recommended changes to American Society of Civil Engineers/SEI section 7-16 (Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures), nine white papers and associated commentary.
References
Attribution:
Research projects
Government agencies established in 2006
Earthquake and seismic risk mitigation
Disaster preparedness in the United States | National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program | [
"Engineering"
] | 520 | [
"Structural engineering",
"Earthquake and seismic risk mitigation"
] |
72,172,547 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Galileo%20Project | The Galileo Project is an international scientific research project to search for extraterrestrial intelligence or extraterrestrial technology on and near Earth and to identify the nature of anomalous Unidentified Flying Objects/Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UFOs/UAP).
It was launched in 2021 by Harvard University astrophysicist, Avi Loeb, shortly after the ODNI UFO report (prepared by the U.S. Intelligence), which reported sightings of aircraft or other devices apparently flying at mysterious speeds or trajectories, and a 3 June 2021 speech by the head of NASA, Bill Nelson, in which he stated scientific analysis of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena detected by a multitude of instruments was needed. On 5 June, Loeb emailed NASA to suggest such a scientific project but received no reply upon which he launched the project on his own on 26 July 2021 with the help of donations.
The non-profit project is searching for extraterrestrial technological equipment, which can be considered to be technosignatures, including gathering new data about peculiar UFOs with dedicated optimized unclassified sensor systems.
Overview
The project aims to use existing and new telescopes to systematically look for artifacts in Earth's orbit, interstellar objects, and unexplained craft, sometimes called "anomalous aerial vehicles" (AAV), in Earth's atmosphere. Research into UFOs, including ufology, has often been criticized for working with or providing only little or low-quality data, especially as adherence to the "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" adage is a guiding principle of scientific inquiry. The project aims to address the data-quality issue by setting up new sensor systems. The project aims to make the collected data publicly available to scientific scrutiny and publish papers with "transparent" scientific analysis in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Loeb notes that "people in the military or in politics are not trained as scientists, and should not be asked to interpret what they see in the sky." The project uses an agnostic (or "secular" or "unbiased, empirical inquiry") approach by which no potential explanations – including those that are considered to be unlikely by some experts – are rejected a priori but data is gathered and scientifically investigated to, based on the results, develop any conclusions.
Its two other main avenues of research are searching for "two further types of potential extraterrestrial technological signatures with the use of AI": 'Oumuamua-like interstellar objects, and non-manmade artificial satellites.
Over 100 scientists worldwide are involved in the project.
In July 2023, astronomer Avi Loeb and his team reported the possibility of finding interstellar material. Claims made by Loeb and his team about their findings have been doubted by their peers according to a report in The New York Times.
Activities
Loeb has stated that at a minimum, the "Galileo Project will gather rich data sets that may foster the discovery of – or better scientific explanations for – novel interstellar objects with anomalous properties, and for potential new natural phenomena or terrestrial technology explanations for many presently inexplicable UAP".
Telescopes
One project aims to construct a series of optical and infrared telescopes to monitor the sky and use artificial intelligence to classify and analyse the observations. Its first telescope was installed on the roof of the Harvard College Observatory in 2022. More sensor systems are planned to be deployed worldwide, possibly in a networked way. In September 2022, it was reported that the project should begin collecting observations in January and Loeb has stated in an online post on 24 October that instruments designed by the Galileo Project are "by now collecting new high-quality data".
The telescope systems use machine learning to sort out, for example, "birds, balloons, drones, atmospheric events, aircraft and satellites from more mysterious sightings".
The telescopes could be supplemented by radar systems that would "distinguish a physical object in the sky from a weather pattern or a mirage". Moreover, like NASA for their UAP study, the project is looking into also using Earth observation satellites, in particular data collected by miniature satellites by Planet Labs.
Loeb has stated that so far SETI was mainly "predicated on the assumption that extraterrestrials communicate via radio waves, a technology we have used for just over a century and which advanced extraterrestrials may have long ago left behind", noting that a better strategy may be "to look for artefacts: alien tech". Astronomer Jason Wright affirms that "very little" of such searching is being done, but "artefact SETI" seems to "have got more traction lately". Artefacts may have been able to accumulate in the Solar System – like our "mailbox" – for 4.55 billion years.
A goal of the project is to capture "new crisp images with better instruments than have ever been used by civilians". While relevant sensors are not only photographic cameras, Loeb stated in early 2022 that a high-resolution images could be collected within two years.
Study of interstellar objects like 'Oumuamua
The project plans to search for, characterize and study interstellar objects (ISOs) like the peculiar Oumuamua detected in 2017. They intend to use astronomical surveys like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory so that such objects can be identified more quickly, and to design a space mission so a probe could intercept it and gather close-up data. The team intends to develop software that "will analyze data collected from the Vera Rubin Observatory". It is thought that when the observatory commences its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), "it will be able to detect ISOs entering our Solar System at a rate of a few per month".
In collaboration with Alan Stern, principal investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission, they have received funding to develop such a space mission concept.
The project may trace its origins back to 2017 when its founder, Loeb, first got excited about the topic and gained substantial public attention after the first known interstellar object, ’Oumuamua, was discovered and displayed highly unusual properties and behavior. Loeb investigated and elaborated these anomalies and proposed that it could be a kind of extraterrestrial technology in scientific journals, many media appearances and a book, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth.
The Interstellar Object Studies branch is led by Amir Siraj, a Harvard astrophysicist who frequently collaborates with Loeb and co-discoverer of one or two interstellar objects.
In 2022, Siraj and Loeb reported the discovery of an additional candidate interstellar meteor, CNEOS 2017-03-09, in a preprint using the same fireball catalog as they used for CNEOS 2014-01-08 . They find that the implied material strength of the two objects (these are the highest and third-highest of the catalog's 273 fireballs) suggests that interstellar meteors "come from a population with material strength characteristically higher than meteors originating from within the solar system".
Deep-ocean expedition to recover CNEOS 2014-01-08 fragments
The project focused on the 2014 meteor CNEOS 2014-01-08, which Loeb and Siraj claimed was "rare both in composition and in speed", leading them to claim it was an interstellar object. The scientific community remained skeptical of those claims, even after the United States Space Command confirmed their own sensor data. Loeb announced that private philanthropists were funding an expedition to search the floor in the suspected region of impact by dragging a magnetic sled on the seafloor off the coast of Papua New Guinea. In 2023 Loeb announced the discovery of an anomalous 8-millimeter-long curled piece of wire, designated "ISI-2". X-ray fluorescence analysis determined it was chiefly composed of Manganese and Platinum, commonly used in the manufacture of corrosion resistant laboratory electrodes. However, the relative composition of the elements in the wire was significantly different than that used in electrodes.
Additionally, metallic shards were discovered that were determined to be composed of a S5 steel alloy, which bears a yield strength that far exceeds that of iron meteorites, reflecting previously published results that characterized IM1's strength. Two varieties were found, dubbed "red" and "gray" which are representative of a differing oxidation state. Further fragments were found several kilometers away.
The broader scientific community remained skeptical of all the associated claims, from whether the meteor was interstellar, to whether it landed in that part of the ocean, to whether fragments could be recovered, to whether or not those specific objects found were of off earth origin. The seismic data on which Loeb partially based his estimate of the impact cite was shown to be the result, not of an impact, but of nearby truck traffic.
Search for non-human artificial satellites
The project intends to systematically search for non-manmade artificial satellites (or semi-artificial satellites or artifacts on them) in Earth's orbit – for example by designing algorithms for telescopes to recognize and filter orbiting objects and using modern sky surveys.
An object in a geosynchronous orbit may have been there for many millions of years and both intact material, as well as debris from degraded probes, could be detected even if they have undergone multiple collisions during this period. As any "high-albedo objects are moving, spinning and emitting reflections from time to time", it should be possible to "confirm their existence through customized searches of modern data". The project can search for "these glinting events more effectively than was possible with other surveys".
Members
The team includes scientists who as of 2021 work on a voluntary basis from Caltech, Cambridge University, Harvard, Princeton, Stockholm University, the University of Tokyo, and other institutions. The project also lists "Affiliated professionals who offer useful expertise and input to the Research Team", and members of a "Scientific Advisory Board" and a "Philanthropic Advisory Board".
Funding
Its activities are funded by donations – $1.8 million as of 2021. The funders include Frank Laukien, CEO of Bruker Corporation and William A. Linton, founder of Promega Corporation, both listed on the project's Philanthropic Advisory Board. The donations are reported to be unconditional and philanthropic. Further funding that covers the costs of an expedition to retrieve fragments of an interstellar object was announced in September 2022.
Loeb has stated that around $100 million would be needed to fully realise its project of identifying the nature of UAP. Loeb has pointed out that research of dark matter is a still unsolved topic that he suggests to be "just as bizarre as aliens and far less relevant to daily human life" and that $100 million are only two percent of the Large Hadron Collider's "$5bn budget" and an even smaller fraction of Elon Musk's SpaceX project "valued at around $100bn". The creation of an interstellar object interceptor mission would be more expensive and was estimated to cost $1bn.
Reception and impact
The project gained substantial mainstream media coverage, was applauded by many, including scientists, and gained traction on social media and in online communities of people interested in UFOs. An NBC News article describes the project as "exactly the kind of research many have called for after the release of the Pentagon's intelligence report in June [2021]".
There have also been various concerns, doubts and criticism about the prospects of the Galileo Project.
Some astronomers are worried that astronomy and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) are getting undermined by projects like the Galileo Project. Senior astronomer for the SETI Institute, Seth Shostak has compared his organization's and broader UFO-unrelated SETI efforts with Loeb's project, describing his preferred approach as "studying unknown fauna in the rainforest", and the latter's search for aliens in Earth's atmosphere as "hoping to find mermaids or unicorns". However, Shostak also stated that Loeb's "peers" (i.e. the academic astronomical community) "should be grateful for [Loeb's] effort," and that he is "grateful that [Loeb] has the freedom—and the guts—to go where few would dare to go".
Some astronomers have also criticized claims by the project's lead scientist for "insufficient" evidence to "support his bold conjectures about alien life". Astrobiologist Caleb Scharf stated that the Galileo Project has "intermingled legitimate scientists with" what he assessed to be fringe people. Nonetheless, on August 24, 2023, The New York Times published an article about Loeb and his related search for signs of extraterrestrial life and The Galileo Project.
See also
Technosignature
Fermi paradox
Ufology#Research
References
External links
Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
Ufology
Discovery and exploration of the Solar System
Astronomy projects
Observational astronomy
Harvard University
2021 establishments | The Galileo Project | [
"Astronomy"
] | 2,674 | [
"Astronomical sub-disciplines",
"History of astronomy",
"Observational astronomy",
"Astronomy projects",
"Solar System",
"Discovery and exploration of the Solar System"
] |
72,173,841 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTT%2068 | MTT 68 is a multiple star system located on the outskirts of the HD 97950 cluster in the NGC 3603 star-forming region, about 25,000 light years from Earth. It contains a rare example of an O2If* star which is one of the most luminous and most massive known.
MTT 68 was first identified as being associated with NGC 3603 when it was listed as object 68 in a survey of the region by Melnick, Tapia, and Terlevich published in 1989. It is from the centre of the main ionising cluster for NGC 3603. In 2002, it was found to be a strong source of X-rays, indicating that it may be a close binary containing two massive stars. In 2013, it was classified with a spectral type of O2If*, only the second known example after the prototype HD 93129A, also in the constellation of Carina. The spectral class indicates that this is a very hot supergiant star with emission lines of triple-ionised nitrogen stronger than those of doubly-ionised nitrogen.
MTT 68 is resolved into a pair of stars apart. The fainter component is 1.2 magnitudes dimmer than the brighter star. Although it is expected that MTT 68 is a binary due to its high x-ray luminosity, the observed companion is too distant to create the x-rays by colliding winds and a third, closer, companion is suspected.
Although MTT 68 is catalogued in Gaia Data Release 3, the parallax is too imprecise to give a useful distance. Analysis of the cluster as a whole allows a distance of to be calculated. At that distance, interstellar extinction causes stars to be dimmed by about 6.7 magnitudes and strongly reddened. Correcting for this places both of the component stars near the main sequence within initial masses of at least and respectively.
See also
NGC 3603-A1
NGC 3603-B
References
External links
NASA Image of the day
Carina (constellation)
NGC 3603
O-type supergiants | MTT 68 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 427 | [
"Carina (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
72,176,057 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temptin | Temptin is a protein that acts as a water-borne pheromone in the marine gastropod mollusk Aplysia californica. It is an abundant protein that is synthesized in the albumen gland, and is released in the egg cords during oviposition, along with other proteins called attractin, seductin and enticin. Together, they make up a complex of water-soluble proteins that act together to attract mates for reproduction and induce spawning.
History
Temptin was first described in 2004 in the marine gastropod Aplysia californica. In 2017, the knowledge of temptin as a chemical signal was extended to the freshwater gastropod mollusk Biomphalaria glabrata. In 2019 it was reported as a protein present in the aerial eggs of the freshwater gastropod molluscs Pomacea canaliculata and Pomacea maculata. In 2021 a study of the temptin gene suggests that it is unique to all Lophotrochozoa, and that it is present in all molluscs, except in cephalopods.
Structure
The gene encoding temptin is found the Lophotrochozoa clade. Temptin from Aplysia californica has sequence homology to epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domains of higher organisms that mediate protein surface contact with cells during fertilization and blood coagulation. The protein has two disulfide bound, that could stabilize it from proteolysis in the extracellular medium where it is released, and a possible calcium binding site.
Function
In addition to its pheromone function, in the freshwater bivalve Hyriopsis cumingii, the protein is expressed in the mantle and it is involved in the biomineralization process. Through gene silencing it was shown that their absence alters the biomineral structure of the mollusc shell.
References
Pheromones | Temptin | [
"Chemistry"
] | 401 | [
"Pheromones",
"Chemical ecology"
] |
72,176,379 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseniaspora%20clermontiae | Hanseniaspora clermontiae is a species of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae. It was first isolated from stem rot occurring in a lobelioid plant in Hawaii, and may be endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.
Taxonomy
The species was first described by Neža Čadež, Gé A. Poot, Peter Raspor, and Maudy Th. Smith in 2003 after isolating a sample in stem rot of a Clermontia plant in Hawaii. The specific epithet is derived from the genus name of the host plant where it was first isolated.
Description
Microscopic examination of the yeast cells in YM liquid medium after 48 hours at 25°C reveals cells that are 3.5 to 18 μm by 2.5 to 5.0 μm in size, apiculate, ovoid to elongate, appearing singly or in pairs. Reproduction is by budding, which occurs at both poles of the cell. In broth culture, sediment is present, and after one month a very thin ring is formed.
Colonies that are grown on malt agar for one month at 25°C appear cream-colored, butyrous, and smooth. Growth is flat to slightly raised at the center, with an entire to slightly undulating margin. The yeast forms poorly-developed pseudohyphae on cornmeal or potato agar. The yeast has been observed to form two to four hat-shaped ascospores when grown for two weeks on 5% Difco malt extract agar.
The yeast can ferment glucose and cellobiose, but not galactose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, raffinose or trehalose. It has a positive growth rate at 25°C, but no growth at 30°C or above. It can grow on agar media containing 0.1% cycloheximide and 10% sodium but growth on 50% glucose-yeast extract agar is weak.
Ecology
The type sample was obtained in Hawaii, and in 2005, Marc-André Lachance described the species as possibly endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It is considered unlikely to be a human pathogen due to its inability to grow at human body temperatures.
References
Saccharomycetes
Yeasts
Fungi described in 2003
Fungus species | Hanseniaspora clermontiae | [
"Biology"
] | 468 | [
"Yeasts",
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
72,176,847 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseniaspora%20lachancei | Hanseniaspora lachancei is a species of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae. It is associated with fermenting agave juice and a tequila production facility in Mexico.
Taxonomy
Samples of H. lachancei were first isolated from samples taken at the Tequila Herradura estate in Jalisco, Mexico over a seven-day period in February 1992. Initially mis-identified as atypical Hanseniaspora guilliermondii strains, further testing revealed that the samples were distinct from H. guilliermondii. The species was first described by Neža Čadež, Gé A. Poot, Peter Raspor, and Maudy Th. Smith in 2003 and given the specific epithet "lachancei" after Marc-André Lachance, the yeast taxonomist and ecologist who collected the original samples.
Genetic sequencing shows that the species is closely related to Hanseniaspora opuntiae, Hanseniaspora pseudoguilliermondii, and Hanseniaspora guilliermondii.
Description
Microscopic examination of the yeast cells in YM liquid medium after 48 hours at 25 °C reveals cells that are 2.5 to 18.5 μm by 1.0 to 5.5 μm in size, apiculate, ovoid to elongate, appearing singly or in pairs. Reproduction is by budding, which occurs at both poles of the cell. In broth culture, sediment is present, and after one month a very thin ring is formed.
Colonies that are grown on malt agar for one month at 25 °C appear cream-colored, butyrous, glossy, and smooth. Growth is flat to slightly raised at the center, with an entire to slightly undulating margin. The yeast forms poorly-developed pseudohyphae on cornmeal or potato agar. The yeast has been observed to form four hat-shaped ascospores when grown for at least seven days on 5% Difco malt extract agar.
The yeast can ferment glucose and cellobiose, but not galactose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, raffinose or trehalose. It has a positive growth rate at 37 °C, which is a distinguishing characteristic from other species of Hanseniaspora, but there is no growth at 40 °C. It can grow on agar media containing 0.1% cycloheximide and 10% sodium but growth on 50% glucose-yeast extract agar is weak.
Ecology
Three strains of the species have been isolated from fermenting agave juice in Mexico as well as from Drosophila species captured inside a tequila facility. It is not known whether it has any human pathogenic potential, but it can grow at a normal body temperature.
References
Saccharomycetes
Yeasts
Fungi described in 2003
Fungus species | Hanseniaspora lachancei | [
"Biology"
] | 592 | [
"Yeasts",
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
72,178,003 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseniaspora%20opuntiae | Hanseniaspora opuntiae is a species of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae. It has been isolated from locations worldwide, on grape berries and on prickly pear cacti.
Taxonomy
Samples of H. opuntiae were first isolated from samples taken from prickly pear cacti in Hawaii. The species was first described by Neža Čadež, Gé A. Poot, Peter Raspor, and Maudy Th. Smith in 2003 and given the specific epithet refers to the genus of the host plant where it was first isolated.
Genetic sequencing shows that the species is closely related to Hanseniaspora lachancei, Hanseniaspora pseudoguilliermondii, and Hanseniaspora guilliermondii. The four species can only be differentiated from those species by using PCR fingerprinting and not by conventional physiological criteria.
Description
Microscopic examination of the yeast cells in YM liquid medium after 48 hours at 25 °C reveals cells that are 3.0 to 16.0 μm by 1.5 to 5.0 μm in size, apiculate, ovoid to elongate, appearing singly or in pairs. Reproduction is by budding, which occurs at both poles of the cell. In broth culture, sediment is present, and after one month a very thin ring and a sediment is formed.
Colonies that are grown on malt agar for one month at 25 °C appear cream-colored, butyrous, glossy, and smooth. Growth is flat to slightly raised at the center, with an entire to slightly undulating margin. The yeast forms poorly developed pseudohyphae on cornmeal or potato agar. The yeast has been observed to form four hat-shaped ascospores when grown for at least seven days on 5% Difco malt extract agar.
The yeast can ferment glucose and cellobiose, but not galactose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, raffinose or trehalose. It has a positive growth rate at 37 °C, but there is no growth at 40 °C. It can grow on agar media containing 0.1% cycloheximide and 10% sodium but growth on 50% glucose-yeast extract agar is weak. It has been shown to thrive during the early stages of fermentation of alcoholic beverages, but has a relatively low alcohol tolerance and activity decreases as alcohol levels increase.
Ecology
Strains of the species have been isolated from rot occurring on prickly pear plants in Hawaii as well as on grape berries and wine in Australia, Greece, and China. A 2010 study found that H. opuntiae was the prevalent species involved with the post-harvest fermentation of cocoa beans on a plantation in Malaysia.
It is not known whether it has any human pathogenic potential, but it can grow at a normal body temperature.
Effects on wine production
A study on the effects of co-fermentation of wine with H. opuntiae and commercial wine yeast found that H. opuntiae increased the output of certain fusel alcohols which improved the aroma qualities of the finished wine. It also reduced the production of fatty acids in the wine, which contribute negative effects on wine aromas when they are present above their sensory thresholds. Co-fermentation with H. opuntiae increased the production of phenylacetaldehyde, which lends a desirable floral and honey smell in wine. A different study examining the sequential fermentation of wine with H. opuntiae followed by commercial wine yeast after 7 days found an increase in the production of glycerol, ethyl acetate, several monoterpenes and a decrease in the production of decanoic acid, fatty acid esters, and final alcohol content. Blind sensory panels in the study compared two wines produced from the same must; the first fermented with a commercial wine yeast, and the second fermented with H. opuntiae for seven days followed by a sequential fermentation with the commercial wine yeast. Panelists used negative descriptors such as "alcohol", "overripe fruit", and "vegetable", along with positive descriptors "spicy" and "black fruits" to describe the wine fermented only with the commercial wine yeast. The sequentially fermented wine was associated with positive descriptors such as "coffee", "hazelnut", "caramel", and "cherry", along with negative descriptors of "acetone". The panelists were able to detect clear differences in the wines fermented with H. opuntiae compared to commercial wine yeast alone, with a general preference expressed for the mixed culture wines.
References
Saccharomycetes
Yeasts
Fungi described in 2003
Fungus species | Hanseniaspora opuntiae | [
"Biology"
] | 989 | [
"Yeasts",
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
72,179,723 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20space%20debris%20fall%20incidents | Space debris usually burns up in the atmosphere, but larger debris objects can reach the ground intact. According to NASA, an average of one cataloged piece of debris has fallen back to Earth each day for the past 50 years. Despite their size, there has been no significant property damage from the debris. Burning up in the atmosphere may also contribute to atmospheric pollution. Numerous small cylindrical tanks from space objects have been found, designed to hold fuel or gasses.
Notable examples of space debris falling to Earth and impacting human life include:
1960s-1990s
1969: five sailors on a Japanese ship were injured when space debris from what was believed to be a Soviet spacecraft struck the deck of their boat.
1978: the Soviet reconnaissance satellite Kosmos 954 reentered the atmosphere over northwest Canada and scattered radioactive debris over northern Canada, some landing in the Great Slave Lake.
1979: portions of Skylab came down over Australia, and several pieces landed in the area around the Shire of Esperance, which fined NASA $400 for littering.
1987: a 7-foot strip of metal from the Soviet Kosmos 1890 rocket landed between two homes in Lakeport, California, causing no damage.
1991: Salyut 7 underwent an uncontrolled reentry on 7 February over the city of Capitán Bermúdez in Argentina.
1997: an Oklahoma woman, Lottie Williams, was hit, without injury, in the shoulder by a piece of blackened, woven metallic material confirmed as part of the propellant tank of a Delta II rocket which launched a U.S. Air Force satellite the year before.
From 2000
2001: a Star 48 Payload Assist Module (PAM-D) rocket upper stage re-entered the atmosphere after a "catastrophic orbital decay", crashing in the Saudi Arabian desert. It was identified as the upper-stage rocket for NAVSTAR 32, a GPS satellite launched in 1993.
2002: 6-year-old boy Wu Jie became the first person to be injured by direct impact from space debris. He suffered a fractured toe and a swelling on his forehead after a block of aluminum, 80 centimeters by 50 centimeters and weighing 10 kilograms, from the outer shell of the Resource Second satellite struck him as he sat beneath a persimmon tree in the Shaanxi province of China.
2003: Columbia disaster, large parts of the spacecraft reached the ground and entire equipment systems remained intact. More than 83,000 pieces, along with the remains of the six astronauts, were recovered in an area from three to ten miles around Hemphill in Sabine County, Texas. More pieces were found in a line from west Texas to east Louisiana, with the westernmost piece found in Littlefield, Texas and the easternmost found southwest of Mora, Louisiana. Debris was found in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. In a rare case of property damage, a foot-long metal bracket smashed through the roof of a dentist office. NASA warned the public to avoid contact with the debris because of the possible presence of hazardous chemicals. 15 years after the failure, people were still sending in pieces with the most recent, as of February 2018, found in the spring of 2017.
2007: airborne debris from a Russian spy satellite was seen by the pilot of a LAN Airlines Airbus A340 carrying 270 passengers whilst flying over the Pacific Ocean between Santiago and Auckland. The debris was reported within of the aircraft.
2016: on 2 November, the upper stage of Vega flight VV01 launched on 13 February 2012 reentered over the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A composite overwrapped pressure vessel survived reentry and was recovered.
2020: The empty core stage of a Chinese Long March-5B rocket made an uncontrolled re-entry - the largest object to do so since the Soviet Union's 39-ton Salyut 7 space station in 1991 – over Africa and the Atlantic Ocean and a 12-meter-long pipe originating from the rocket crashed into the village of Mahounou in Côte d'Ivoire.
2021:
A Falcon 9 second stage made an uncontrolled re-entry over Washington on March 25, producing a widely seen "light show". SpaceX retrieved a piece of debris, a composite-overwrapped pressure vessel, that landed on a farm in Washington. Another piece of debris, likely a pressure vessel as well, also survived the re-entry and washed up ashore in Oregon.
In September, a high-pressure helium bottle weighing 50 kg from the aft end of the Centaur upper stage of an Atlas V rocket (international designator 2019 -094A) was discovered in south-eastern Australia near the town of Yambuk, Victoria.
2022:
On 2 April, pieces of reentered space debris impacted multiple locations in the Indian state of Maharashtra, the event of reentry being witnessed by many. Recovered debris consisted of metallic ring almost 3 meter in diameter along with at least six composite overwrapped pressure vessels, some bearing the serial number '3CCA301001 B'. The debris is likely from the third stage of the Long March 3B rocket with a Y77 serial, launched in February 2021.
A month later on 12 May another incidence of space debris reentry and impact was reported over the Indian state of Gujarat, with surviving debris consisting of metal fragments and at least three composite overwrapped pressure vessels. Allegedly, the falling debris killed a livestock animal and injured another as one metal fragment struck a sheep pen. The debris is likely from the third stage of the Long March 3B rocket with a Y86 serial, launched in September 2021. The Indian space agency ISRO is investigating both incidents.
On 9 July 2022, the trunk of the SpaceX Crew-1 Dragon spacecraft reentered the atmosphere and its debris landed on locations such as Albury, Wagga Wagga and Canberra in New South Wales, Australia. Australia notified the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space about three pieces of recovered debris under the Rescue Agreement on 26 August 2022.
On 31 July 2022, the empty core stage of Long March-5B made an uncontrolled reentry over Indonesia and Malaysia. The reentry was witnessed by many and later pieces of booster that survived reentry were recovered from multiple locations in Indonesia and Malaysia.
2023:
On 27 April 2023, space debris bearing a pattern resembling the Chinese national flag as well as a marking of "ventilation duct" in Chinese was found on a beach in Okinoerabu Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
In May 2023, fragments of reentered space debris fell over parts Kyegegwa, Sembabule, and Kyenjojo districts of Western Uganda including a piece that fell on a roof of house in Nakawala village in the Sembabule. According to a report by National Forensic Sciences University, recovered object was made from specialized alloys and carbon-fiber and could belong to SpaceX.
On 16 July, a composite motor case likely to be from the third stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle was found ashore on the Western Australian coast near Greenhead.
2024:
On 8 March 2024, a cylindrical metal object weighing nearly struck a house in Naples, Florida causing damage to property. The object was a piece of EP9 battery pallet jettisoned from ISS in 2021 and survived reentry when its orbit decayed.
On 28 April 2024, two fragments of space debris bearing scorch marks were found on a farm in Ituna (Saskatchewan, Canada). The larger piece of space debris had carbon fiber composite and honeycomb structure, weighing nearly . It was part of the Axiom 3 Dragon trunk section that reentered on 26 February over that region.
On 21 May 2024, a fragment of reentered space debris was found in Haywood County (North Carolina, US). The charred object was 4 × 3.5 feet in size, weighed nearly and was composed of carbon fiber dotted with metallic embeds. On the same day about away, another smaller piece of debris was found in Macon County, NC after it struck a homeowner's roof. Both fragments belonged to the trunk section of the SpaceX Crew-7 Dragon spacecraft which reentered on the same day.
On 30 December 2024, a 500 kg ring with 2.5 meter diameter fell over Mukuku Village of Makueni County at around 15:00 (EAT). The Kenya Space Agency considers the recovered object to be a piece of reentered space debris.
References
External links
List Of Reported Space Objects Discovered By Member States of UN
Space debris
Space hazards
Pollution
Technology hazards | List of space debris fall incidents | [
"Technology"
] | 1,766 | [
"Space debris",
"nan"
] |
72,179,898 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi%20in%20art | Fungi are a common theme and working material in art. Fungi appear in nearly all art forms, including literature, paintings, and graphic arts; and more recently, contemporary art, music, photography, comic books, sculptures, video games, dance, cuisine, architecture, fashion, and design. There are some exhibitions dedicated to fungi, as well as an entire museum (the in Chile).
Contemporary artists experimenting with fungi often work within the realm of BioArt and may use fungi as materials. Artists may use fungi as allegory, narrative, or props. In addition, artists may also film fungi with time-lapse photography to display fungal life cycles or try more experimental techniques. Artists using fungi may explore themes of transformation, decay, renewal, sustainability, or cycles of matter. They may also work with mycologists, ecologists, designers, or architects in a multidisciplinary way.
Artists may be indirectly influenced by fungi via derived substances (such as alcohol or psilocybin). They may depict the effects of these substances, make art under the influence of these substances, or in some cases, both.
By artistic area
In Western art, fungi have been historically connoted with negative elements, whereas Asian art and folk art are generally more favorable towards fungi. British mycologist William Delisle Hay, in his 1887 book An Elementary Text-Book of British Fungi, describes Western cultures as being mycophobes (exhibiting fear, loathing, or hostility towards mushrooms). In contrast, Asian cultures have been generally described as mycophiles.
Since 2020, the annual Fungi Film Festival has recognized movies about fungi in all genres.
In some stories or artworks, fungi play an allegorical role or is part of mythology and folklore. The visible parts of some fungi – particularly mushrooms with a distinctive appearance (e.g., fly agaric) – have significantly contributed to folklore.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms have been represented in art traditions around the world, including western and non-western works of art in ancient and contemporary times. Mayan culture created symbolic mushroom stone sculptures which sometimes include faces that depict in a dreamlike or trance-like expression. Mayan codices also depict mushrooms. Examples of mushroom usage in art from other cultures include the Pegtymel petroglyphs of Russia and Japanese Netsuke figurines.
Contemporary art depictions of mushrooms also exist, such as a contemporary Japanese piece that represents baskets of matsutake mushrooms laid atop bank notes, showing an association between mushrooms and prosperity. Anselm Kiefer's work, Über Deutschland and Sonja Bäumel's Objects use images of mushrooms. Some claim that themes such as sustainable living, and considerations associated with the science of fungi and biotechnologies are present in these works.
Mushrooms have appeared in Christian paintings, as in the panel painting by Hieronymus Bosch, The Haywain Triptych. The Registry of Mushrooms in Works of Art is maintained by the North American Mycological Association. The stated goal of the registry is "to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between mushrooms and people as reflected in works of art from different historical periods, and to provide enjoyment to anyone interested in the subject." Started by Moselio Schaechter, author of In the Company of Mushrooms, the project is ongoing.
Mycelia or hyphae
Mycelia and hyphae have seldom been represented, showcased, transformed, or utilized in the traditional arts due to their invisibility and the general overlook. Depictions of mycelia and hyphae in the graphic arts are very rare. The mycelium of certain fungi, like those of the polypore fungus Fomes fomentarius which is sometimes referred to as Amadou, has been reported throughout history as a biomaterial. More recently, hyphae and mycelia have been used as working matter and transformed into contemporary artworks, or used as biomaterial for objects, textiles and constructions. Mycelium is investigated in cuisine as innovative food or as a source of meat alternatives like mycoproteins. The filamentous, prolific, and fast growth of hyphae and mycelia (like molds) in suitable conditions and growth media often makes these fungal forms good subjects of time-lapse photography. Indirectly, psychoactive substances present in certain fungi have inspired works of art, like in the triptych by Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, with curious and visionary imagery inspired, according to some interpretations, by ergot poisoning caused by the sclerotia (hardened mycelium) of the phytopathogenic fungus Claviceps purpurea.
Graphic arts
The German Renaissance painter Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470–1528) depicted a subject suffering from ergotism in The Temptation of St. Anthony (1512–1516), also referred to as St. Anthony's Fire.
Music
The luthier Rachel Rosenkrantz experiments with fungi (mycelium) to create "mycocast", a guitar body made of fungal biomass because of the acoustic properties of mycelium and its growth plasticity (i.e., the ability to take virtually any shape upon being cast in a desired form). According to an interpretation, violins from wood infiltrated by mycelia of the fungus Xylaria polymorpha (commonly called 'dead man's fingers') produce sounds close to those from a Stradivarius violin. Researchers are investigating the use of the species Physisporinus vitreus and Xylaria longipes in controlled wood decay experiments to create wood with superior qualities for musical instruments. In some cases, music generation using fungi is conceptual, as in Psychotropic house (2015) and Mycomorph lab (2016) of the Zooetic Pavillion by the Urbonas Studio based in Vilnius (Lithuania) and Cambridge (Massachusetts), in which a mycelial structure is designed to act as an amplifier for sounds from nature mixed into loops.
Architecture, sculptures, and mycelium-based biomaterials
Direct applications of fungi in architecture often start with artistic experimentations with fungi. Mycelium is being investigated and developed by researchers and companies into a sustainable packaging solution as an alternative to polystyrene.
Early experimentations by artists with mycelia have been exhibited at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Experimentations with fungi as components– and not only as contaminants or degraders of buildings – started around 1950. Use of fungi from the genera Ganoderma, Fomes, Trametes, Pycnoporus, or Perenniporia (and more) in architecture include applications such as concrete replacement, 3D printing, soundproof elements, insulation, biofiltration, and self-sustaining, self-repairing structures.
Besides the study of fungi for their beneficial application in architecture, risk assessments investigate the potential risk fungi can pose with regard to human and environmental health, including pathogenicity, mycotoxin production, insect attraction through volatile compounds, or invasiveness.
Fashion, design, and mycelium-based textiles
Historically, ritual masks made of lingzhi (species from the genera Ganoderma) have been reported in Nepal and indigenous cultures in British Columbia. Fungal mycelia are molded or grown into sculptures and bio-based materials for product design, including into everyday objects to raise awareness about circular economics and the impact that petrol-based plastics have on the environment. Biotechnology companies like Ecovative Design, MycoWorks, and others are developing mycelium-based materials that can be used in the textile industry. Fashion brands like Adidas, Stella McCartney, and Hermès are introducing vegan alternatives to leather made from mycelium.
The tinder polypore Fomes fomentarius (materials derived from which are referred to as 'Amadou') has been used by ancestral cultures and civilizations due to its flammable, fibrous, and insect-repellent properties.
Culinary arts
Mushrooms are traditionally the main form of fungi used for direct consumption in the culinary arts. The fermentative abilities of mold and yeasts have a direct influence on a great variety of food products, including beer, wine, sake, kombucha, coffee, soy sauce, tofu, cheese, and chocolate. Recently, mycelium has been increasingly investigated as an innovative food source. The restaurant The Alchemist in Copenhagen, Denmark, experiments with mycelium of fungi such as Aspergillus oryzae, Pletorus (oyster mushroom), and Brettanomyces to create novel fungus-based dishes, including the creation of mycelium-based seafood and the consumption of raw, fresh mycelium grown on a Petri dish with a nutrient-rich broth. The US-based company Ecovative Design is creating fungus-based food as a meat alternative, including mycelium-based bacon. The US-based company Nature's Fynd is developing various kinds of food products, including meatless patties and cream cheese substitutes, using the Fy protein from Fusarium.
Contemporary arts
Hypha and mycelium get attention as working matter in contemporary art due to their growth and plasticity, and are used to explore the biological properties of degradation, decomposition, budding ('mushrooming'), and sporulation. An early form of BioArt is agar art, where various microorganisms (including fungi) are grown on agar plates into desired shapes and colours. In agar art, fungi and other microorganisms (mostly bacteria) assume different appearances based on intrinsic characteristics of the fungus (species, morphology, fungal form, pigmentation), as well as external parameters (like inoculation technique, incubation time or temperature, nutrient growth medium, etc.). Microorganisms can also be engineered to produce colours or effects which are not intrinsic to them or are not present in nature (e.g., they are mutant from the wild type), like bioluminescence. The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) holds an annual Agar Art Contest which attracts considerable attention and elaborate agar artworks. An early agar artist was physician, bacteriologist, and Nobel Prize winner Alexander Fleming (1881–1955).
The Folk Stone Power Plant (2017), like the Mushroom Power Plant (2019), by Lithuanian artist duo Urbonas Studio, are physical installations based on mycoglomerates: interpretations and representations of vaguely-described microbial symbioses aimed at energy production alternative to fossil fuel. The Folk Stone Power Plant is a "semi-fictional" alternative battery installed in Folkestone, Kent, England, during the Folkestone Triennale, aiming at a reflection about symbioses (both in nature and between artists and scientists) and about unconventional power sources. The design is based on drawings from polymath and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859), while the microbial power source, hidden within the stone, mirrors the contribution of mycelial networks (that is, mycorrhiza) in ecology.
In Chinese-Canadian artist Xiaojing Yan's work, Linghzi Girl (2020), female bust statues cast with the mycelium of lingzhi fungus (Ganoderma lingzhi) are exhibited and left to germinate. From the mycelium-based sculptures sprout mushrooms which eventually spread; once ripe, a cocoa-powder dust of spores blooms on the bust, after which the sculptures are preserved by desiccation to stop the fungal cycle and maintain the artwork. Yan thus explains the audience's reaction to her work:
"The uncanny appearance of these busts seems frightening for many viewers. But a Chinese viewer would recognize the lingzhi and immediately become delighted by the discovery."
During an artist-in-residence project The colors of life (2021) at the Techische Universität Berlin (Germany), artist Sunanda Sharma focuses on the fungus Aspergillus niger, and visualizes its black pigmentation through fungal melanin by means of video, photography, animation, and time-lapse footage. Within the same residence, the artist created an open-source database The Living Color Database (LCDB), which is an online compendium of biological colors for scientists, artists, and designers. The database links organisms across the tree of life (in particular fungi, bacteria, and archaea) with their natural pigments, the molecules' chemistry, biosynthesis, and colour index data (HEX, RGB, and Pantone), and the corresponding scientific literature. The LCDB comprises 445 entries from 110 unique pigments and 380 microbial species.
Spores
Single fungal spores are invisible to the naked eye and examples of artworks involving spores are rarer than artworks involving other fungal forms. Fungal spores are employed as an agent of contamination, invasion, infection or decay in works of fiction. In contemporary art, spores might be used to reflect on the process of transformation.
Graphic arts
Spore prints are created by pressing the underside of a mushroom to a flat surface, either white or colored, to allow the spores to be imprinted on the sheet. Since some mushrooms can be recognized based on the color of their spores, spore prints are a diagnostic tool as well as an illustrative technique. Several artists used and modified the technique of spore printing for artistic purposes. Mycologist Sam Ristich exhibited several of his spore prints in an art gallery in Maine around 2005–2008. The North American Mycological Association created a how-to guide for people interested in creating their own spore prints.
The artwork Auspicious Omen – Lingzhi Spore Painting by Yan creates abstract compositions resembling traditional Chinese landscapes by fixing spores of the linghzi fungus with acrylic reagents. The linghzi mycelial sculptures by Yan, including Linghzi Girl (2020) and Far From Where You Divined (2017) are allowed to germinate into mushrooms during exhibition, creating a dust of spores raining down on the female busts, children, deer, and rabbits. The artworks are then desiccated for preservation, stopping the fungal growth and the metamorphosis of the sculptures. Artworks as such, including growth of the fungus, an incontrollable transformation of the art object, and several forms in the fungal life cycle, are rare.
Comic books and video games
The video game franchise The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic, third-person action-adventure game set in North America in the near future after a mutant fungus decimates humanity. The "fungal apocalypse" is inspired by the effect ant-pathogenic fungi like Ophiocordyceps unilateralis have on their insect prey. The infected zombie-like creatures develop cannibalism after inhaling spores and can transmit the fungal infection to other humans by biting. A television adaptation aired in January 2023. "Come into My Cellar" by Ray Bradbury has been adapted into a comic strip by Dave Gibbon and an adaptation into Italian appeared for the comic series Corto Maltese in 1992 with the name "Vieni nella mia cantina".
Yeasts, moulds and lichens
Contemporary bioartist Anna Dumitriu cultured and showcased fermentation flasks of Pichia pastoris used for the bioconversion of carbon dioxide into biodegradable plastics. The artwork The Bioarchaeology of Yeast recreates biodeterioration marks left by certain yeasts, like black yeast, on work of art and sculptures, and displays them as aesthetic objects, reflecting on the process of erosion.
Contemporary photographer and video artist Sam Taylor-Johnson's time-lapse video, Still Life, documents a platter of fruit in the process of decomposition by mold, representing the natural process of decay.
See also
Microbial art
BioArt
Mushrooms in art
Human interactions with fungi
Mycelium-based materials
References
Further reading
External links
The Registry of Mushrooms in Works of Art from the North American Mycological Association
Fictional fungi
Topics in the arts
Biology and culture
Fungi and humans | Fungi in art | [
"Biology"
] | 3,336 | [
"Fungi and humans",
"Fungi",
"Humans and other species"
] |
72,180,699 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time%20in%20Grenada | Grenada observes Atlantic Standard Time (UTC−4) year-round.
IANA time zone database
In the IANA time zone database, Grenada is given one zone in the file zone.tab—America/Grenada. "GD" refers to the country's ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code. Data for Grenada directly from zone.tab of the IANA time zone database; columns marked with * are the columns from zone.tab itself:
References
External links
Current time in Grenada at Time.is
Time in Grenada at TimeAndDate
Time by country
Geography of Grenada | Time in Grenada | [
"Physics"
] | 119 | [
"Spacetime",
"Physical quantities",
"Time",
"Time by country"
] |
72,180,800 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseniaspora%20meyeri | Hanseniaspora meyeri is a species of yeast in the family Saccharomycetaceae. Samples of the species have been obtained worldwide from flowers, fruit flies, stem rot, and spoiled grape punch.
Taxonomy
The first isolated sample of this species was isolated from the fruit of a soapberry plant in Hawaii. The specific epithet "meyeri" was named in honor of Piet Meyer, a young South African scientist.
Genetic sequencing shows that the species is very closely related to Hanseniaspora clermontiae.
Description
Microscopic examination of the yeast cells in YM liquid medium after 48 hours at 25 °C reveals cells that are 2.5 to 12.5 μm by 1.5 to 6.0 μm in size, apiculate, ovoid to elongate, appearing singly or in pairs. Reproduction is by budding, which occurs at both poles of the cell. In broth culture, sediment is present, and after one month a very thin ring is formed.
Colonies that are grown on malt agar for one month at 25 °C appear cream-colored, butyrous, glossy, and smooth. Growth is flat to slightly raised at the center, with an entire to slightly undulating margin. The yeast forms poorly-developed pseudohyphae on cornmeal or potato agar. The yeast has been observed to form two to four hat-shaped ascospores when grown for at least two weeks on 5% Difco malt extract agar.
The yeast can ferment glucose and cellobiose, but not galactose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, raffinose or trehalose. It has a positive growth rate at 30 °C, but no growth at 35 °C. It can grow on agar media containing 0.1% cycloheximide and 10% sodium but growth on 50% glucose-yeast extract agar is weak. It can grow on media with 2-Keto-d-gluconate as a sole carbon source.
Ecology
In addition to the fruit of the Sapindus plant in Hawaii where the initial sample was located, it has also been isolated from spoiled grape punch in Georgia, USA, from the flowers of the Schotia tree in South Africa, from stem rot in Clermontia species and from fruit flies on Sapindus berries in Hawaii. It is not known whether it has any human pathogenic potential, but it can not grow at a normal body temperature.
References
Saccharomycetes
Yeasts
Fungi described in 2003
Fungus species | Hanseniaspora meyeri | [
"Biology"
] | 524 | [
"Yeasts",
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
72,181,176 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR%20Chamaeleontis | DR Chamaeleontis (DR Cha), also known as HD 93237, is a star located in the southern circumpolar constellation Chamaeleon. The system has an average apparent magnitude of 5.97, allowing it to be faintly visible to the naked eye. DR Cha is located relatively far at a distance of 1,060 light years based on Gaia DR3 parallax measurements, but is receding with a poorly constrained heliocentric radial velocity of .
The visible component has been given several spectral classes over the years. It has been given a luminosity class of a giant star (III), a subgiant (IV), a dwarf star (V), and emission lines. Most sources generally agree that DR Cha is a B5 star. It has 6 times the mass of the Sun and 6.48 times its girth. It shines with a bolometric luminosity 1,587 times that of the Sun from its photosphere at an effective temperature of , giving it a blue hue. The object is estimated to be 50 million years old and spins modestly with a projected rotational velocity of .
In 1982, M. Jaschek listed DR Cha in a catalog of Be stars. It has been classified as an Algol-type eclipsing binary, having a period of 19.4436 days. However in 2022, Labadie-Bartz et al. examined the TESS data for this star, and found that the primary and secondary eclipses are separated by "about 20 days", which suggests that the 19.4436 day period published earlier may represent the time interval between primary and secondary eclipse, rather than the full orbital period.
References
Chamaeleontis, DR
Algol variables
B-type subgiants
B-type main-sequence stars
Chamaeleon
093237
52340
4206
CD-79 00439
Chamaeleontis, 24
B-type giants | DR Chamaeleontis | [
"Astronomy"
] | 408 | [
"Chamaeleon",
"Constellations"
] |
72,181,213 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterrey%20Foundry | The Monterrey Foundry (In Spanish: Fundidora de Fierro y Acero de Monterrey, S.A.) was a Mexican iron and steel foundry founded in 1900 in the city of Monterrey, becoming the first such foundry in Latin America and, for many years, the most important one in the region.
At the end of the 19th century, Vicente Ferrara, aware of the existence of numerous iron and coal deposits in the surroundings of Monterrey, and having obtained experience working in steel foundries in the United States, saw the opportunity to found a similar company in Monterrey. To carry out his vision, he gained the support of an international consortium of entrepreneurs, including Antonio Basagoiti (Spain), Eugene Kelly (US), and Leon Signoret (France). As a capital-intensive industry, the enterprise also required significant investments from some of the wealthiest families of the industrialized north of Mexico at the turn of the twentieth century, including the Milmo, Madero, and Garza-Sada clans. Foreign capitalists, including the Guggenheims, also participated to a more limited extent.
The company was successful during the first half of the twentieth century. Many significant engineering projects in Latin America were built with structural steel produced by the Monterrey Foundy. This included Torre Latinoamericana, the world's first major skyscraper successfully built on highly active seismic zone.
After many years in private hands, the firm was nationalized by the Mexican government in 1977 and remained operated by the public sector until its bankruptcy in May 1986. Today, the old site of the foundry has become Fundidora Park. For 60 years it was dedicated exclusively to the production of non-flat iron and steel articles, such as railways, wire rods, corrugated rods, structural steel, and train wheels, among others.
References
Foundries
Manufacturing companies based in Monterrey
1986 disestablishments in Mexico | Monterrey Foundry | [
"Chemistry"
] | 381 | [
"Foundries",
"Metallurgical facilities"
] |
72,181,227 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV%20coloration%20in%20flowers | UV coloration is a natural phenomenon that leads to unique interactions between organisms that have evolved the ability to perceive these wavelengths of light. It serves as one method to attract pollinators to the flower along with scent, shape, and nectar quality. Flowers are known for their range of visible colors that humans can see with their eyes and observe an array of different shades and patterns. The naked eye cannot see the ultraviolet coloration many flowers employ to bring attention to themselves. By either reflecting or absorbing UV light waves, flowers are able to communicate with pollinators. This allows plants that may require an animal pollinator to stand out from other flowers or distinguish where their flowers are in a muddied background of other plant parts. For the plant, it is important to share and receive pollen so they can reproduce, maintain their ecological role, and guide the evolutionary history of the population.
Background
Ultraviolet light is a form of electromagnetic radiation that ranges in wavelengths from 10 nm to 400 nm. This wavelength is shorter than visible light but longer than X-rays. As it sits on the lower edge of visible light, is what gives its name. The most effective wavelength of UV light is approximately 250 nm. It was discovered in 1801 by German scientist Johann Wilhelm Ritter when he noticed that paper soaked with silver chloride darkened faster than regular paper when hit by sunlight. Then in 1878, UV light was first observed to have the ability to kill bacteria which led to understanding how UV can damage cells and mutate DNA in 1960. At that point they began to refer to it as “ionizing radiation” for the harmful impacts the shorter wavelengths exhibited. Also it can be used in microscopy as a tag known by Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) to track development and movement of structures within the cell when shined under UV emitting lightbulbs. Ultraviolet light has positive effects such as vitamin-D production in skin tissue and negative effects of sunburn damage and inflammation in the same part of the body.
Function by plants and pollinators
Ultraviolet coloration is used by 25 to 35 percent of angiosperms. It was adapted by flowers to orient pollinators leading to an example of co-evolution. UV light allows them to broadcast a guide to where their pollen is located. Due to unique life characteristics and morphology of flowers, pollinators are more effective at taking the pollen and spreading it to other flowers of the same species. Flowers have specifically adapted to consistently target a particular pollinator as their hue or intensity of coloration is in the peak wavelength for their pollinator to see and be attracted to. A flower’s size, shape, color, scent, and pattern all play a role in signaling with the senses of pollinators. Plants that rely on animal pollinators are most likely to use the UV coloration strategy compared to other plants to increase the odds of them being pollinated. Some examples of animal pollinators are bees, butterflies, beetles, flies, birds, bats, and a few small mammals. This wide range of species seek out the nectar produced by the plants as food source or in the famous case of honey bees the key ingredient for making honey. This is an example of mutualism where the pollinators receive a resource in exchange for aiding plants in their pollination and reproduction.
UV patterns can vary among like species and unlike species. UV reflection is independent of flower symmetry, but larger size does increase the frequency of reflection. The visible color of the flower impacts the UV color. Yellow flowers having the greatest measure of reflectance. It is more typical to observe UV coloration in purple, red and yellow flowers while white and green ones are less likely. Generally flowers that are white or green tend to be wind pollinated; where being a bright color isn't necessary. A common phenotype of UV coloration is the “bulls-eye” pattern where a flower reflects UV light at the ends of the petals and absorbs UV light in the center. This acts as a guide for pollinators to locate and find pollen. Other flowers add the contrast between their reproductive parts (anthers and pistils) and their petals. Flowers use chemical and physical structures within petal tissue to create UV coloration. For example, flavonoids are responsible for absorption of UV. As plants move into new environments they will continue to manipulate and shift their UV profile.
Evolution
As plants have evolved and adapted their UV coloration, pollinators have also fine-tuned their individual adaptations to maximize their ability to target flowers for food. The dynamic relationship between the pollinators and the pollinated has led to novel mutations and in some cases novel species. Pollinators are drivers of speciation as they are the crux of survival for plants that rely on them for reproductive success. This example of directional selection leads to convergent evolution of flower size, structure, and coloring patterns. For example, if a bee favors a flowers with larger petals then those individual will be more successful at reproduction leading to more and more individuals within a population to have large flowers. Pollinators demonstrate local environmental adaptations in their visual sensory response systems to the amount of light. It is shown that red and white flowers pollinated by bees are of higher spectral purity as compared to
bird-pollinated ones and are therefore easier to detect for bees. Bees have trichromatic vision with maxima of peak sensitivities in UV (344 nm), blue (436 nm) and green (544 nm). Also, bees have preferential treatment towards flowers that use small guides and combine both UV reflectance and absorption has been documented many times in many locations. The interactions are very precise and slight changes in the intensity or size of UV reflectance and/or absorbance affects pollinator behavior along with rate of visitors. Therefore, decreased UV coloration on the petals leads to few exchanges of pollen with pollinators causing a reduction in an individual's evolutionary fitness.
Other examples of UV being used
While angiosperms take advantage of ultraviolet patterns to be seen, primitive gymnosperms have pollen that reflects UV light. This brings up questions on the evolutionary origins of this phenomenon. It is believed that reflecting UV light is actually a protective measure plants utilize to prevent DNA damage from the UV in sunlight. This is understandable as UV wavelengths can mutate and even destroy organic structures like DNA and skin tissue which is why humans experience sunburn. The pollen grains reflect UV-beta to shield their chromosomes stored in the pollen from UV-alpha which is important for making sure of reproductive success. The technique of UV coloration has evolved in other species as well for various reasons. Similarly, carnivorous plants reflect and absorb UV to attract prey to it. They mimic the strategy used by traditional flowers for pollination to exploit pollinators to land in the trap so the carnivorous flower head can digest them as a source of key nutrients to grow and survive. Butterflies, a common insect pollinator, use UV coloration in their wing patterns to achieve an extra level of modelling their fitness to potential mates.
References
Evolution of plants
Pollination | UV coloration in flowers | [
"Biology"
] | 1,426 | [
"Evolution of plants",
"Plants"
] |
72,181,952 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebeloma%20louiseae | Hebeloma louiseae is a species of mushroom in the family Hymenogastraceae. The species was first found in Svalbard and named as a distinct species of Hebeloma in 2016. It has subsequently been collected in Greenland.
References
louiseae
Fungi of Europe
Fungus species | Hebeloma louiseae | [
"Biology"
] | 60 | [
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
72,182,187 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis%20in%20Amoebozoa | Amoebozoa of the free living genus Acanthamoeba and the social amoeba genus Dictyostelium are single celled eukaryotic organisms that feed on bacteria, fungi, and algae through phagocytosis, with digestion occurring in phagolysosomes. Amoebozoa are present in most terrestrial ecosystems including soil and freshwater. Amoebozoa contain a vast array of symbionts that range from transient to permanent infections, confer a range of effects from mutualistic to pathogenic, and can act as environmental reservoirs for animal pathogenic bacteria. As single celled phagocytic organisms, amoebas simulate the function and environment of immune cells like macrophages, and as such their interactions with bacteria and other microbes are of great importance in understanding functions of the human immune system, as well as understanding how microbiomes can originate in eukaryotic organisms.
Amoeba-resistant microorganisms
Some microorganisms have evolved to become resistant to Amoebozoa, and are able to survive, grow, and exit free-living amoebae after phagocytosis. In order for an organism to survive in an Amoebozoa, they have developed a way to avoid or survive digestion by their host's acidic and oxidative phagolysosomes. Many of these amoeba-resistant microorganisms (ARMs) survive either in the amoeba cytoplasm or in host derived vacuoles surrounded by plasma membrane, allowing them to not only avoid digestion, but actively reproduce inside their host with some are capable of lysing the amoeba host cell. Known symbionts of Amoebozoa include bacteria from Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Chlamydiae, and Paraburkholderia, all with different effects on their host, even within the same phylum. For example, some Chlamydiae bacteria are able to increase the growth rates of their hosts or increase motility, other Chlamydiae strains are able to fight off other pathogenic symbionts like legionella, and some Chlamydiae are parasitic and decrease host fitness.
Many free living amoeba species inhabit aquatic environments, including manufactured water systems. While in their encysted state, amoebas have a high resistance to extreme temperatures, UV radiation, osmolarity, and pH. Some species of pathogenic bacteria are able to take advantage of this resistance and survive in environments that would usually destroy them, and are able to use the amoebas as a "Trojan horse" to travel to new environments and animal hosts. Legionella pneumophila, a known human pathogen, has been observed in at least 13 different species of amoeba. Legionella has been shown to survive inside of an encysted amoeba host in chlorine treated water, and can release from the host in respirable vesicles when treated with biocides, with each vesicle possibly containing hundreds of legionella bacteria spread by aerosolized water. Recent human outbreaks of Legionella are likely due to aerosolized water containing amoeba derived Legionella vesicles produced by modern devices such as air-conditioning systems, water cooling towers, showers, clinical respiration devices, and whirlpool baths that have been contaminated with host amoebae.
Farming symbionts
Another unique example of symbiosis occurs in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. D. discoideum and other social amoeba differ from free living Acanthamoeba in that instead of encysting, they undergo a social cycle where individual D. discoideum cells aggregate together in a food scarce environment. This social cycle results in a differentiation between cells: ~20% are sacrificed to form a structural stalk, some transform into sentinel cells with immune like and detoxifying functions, and the rest of the aggregated amoeba form a ball of spores located in protective fruiting body. This fruiting body gives some amoeba from that population a chance to be transported to a food rich environment and survive. If they are not transported to a food rich environment, then the amoebas of that fruiting body will starve. Some D. discoideum amoebas contain Burkholderia bacteria that have been found to form a type of farming symbiosis with their discoideum hosts, who have reduced sentinel cell numbers. Burkholderia are able to persist in the fruiting bodies of their hosts that are carried by an animal or environmental path to a new environment. If there are few food bacteria in that new environment, then the social amoeba are able to seed the area with the contained Burkholderia and thus develop a food source. Farmer amoebas do produce fewer spores in a food rich environment than non-farmer amoebas, but this cost is countered by farmers’ ability to replenish their food supply when dispersing to food-poor environments. Additionally, some farmed Burkholderia produce compounds that are not detrimental to the amoeba host, but are detrimental to nonfarmer amoebas, giving the farmer amoebas a competitive advantage in mixed populations.
Viral interactions
Giant viruses, or nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses, frequently infect Amoebozoa and other protists causing amoeba lysis and cell rounding in 12 hours and amoeba population collapse in 55 hours. As such, there is a strong selective pressure on both Amoebozoa and their symbionts to resist these viruses. Acanthamoeba hattchettii is one species affected by giant viruses, and some use a bacterial symbiont (Parachlamydia acanthamoebae) to counter giant viruses from Marseilleviridae and Mimiviridae. Acanthamoeba that are infected with the chlamydiae symbiont and giant viruses are able to avoid lysis and cell rounding that normally occur with infection by repressing viral replication after the virus enters the cell, likely due to secondary metabolites produced by the symbiont. Acanthamoeba that are not infected by the symbiont or virus have the highest fitness with a doubling time that is twice as fast, Acanthamoeba that are infected with the chlamydia symbiont have the same fitness when infected by the virus and when not, and Acanthamoeba that are infected with just the virus have the lowest fitness with a total population collapse. Therefore, the chlamydiae symbiont acts as a mutualist with a significantly positive fitness effect during viral predation, but is also consistent with the parasitic lifestyle of many chlamydiae when acanthamoeba is not a victim of viral predation. As an obligate intracellular bacterium, the chlamydiae symbiont is effectively competing in the same niche as other giant viruses, and so has evolved to protect its host from its natural competitor.
References
Wikipedia Student Program
Amoebozoa
Symbiosis | Symbiosis in Amoebozoa | [
"Biology"
] | 1,515 | [
"Biological interactions",
"Behavior",
"Symbiosis"
] |
72,182,831 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technetium%28IV%29%20oxide | Technetium(IV) oxide, also known as technetium dioxide, is a chemical compound with the formula TcO2 which forms the dihydrate, TcO2·2H2O, which is also known as technetium(IV) hydroxide. It is a radioactive black solid which slowly oxidizes in air.
Preparation
Technetium dioxide was first produced in 1949 by electrolyzing a solution of ammonium pertechnetate under ammonium hydroxide and this method is used for separating technetium from molybdenum and rhenium. There are now more efficient ways of producing the compound, such as the reduction of ammonium pertechnetate by zinc metal and hydrochloric acid, stannous chloride, hydrazine, hydroxylamine, ascorbic acid, by the hydrolysis of potassium hexachlorotechnate or by the decomposition of ammonium pertechnetate at 700 °C under an inert atmosphere:
2 NH4TcO4 → 2 TcO2 + 4 H2O + N2
All of these methods except the last lead to the formation of the dihydrate.
The most modern method of producing this compound is by the reaction of ammonium pertechnetate with sodium dithionite.
Properties
The dihydrate dehydrates to anhydrous technetium dioxide at 300 °C, and if further heated sublime at 1,100 °C under an inert atmosphere, however, if oxygen is present, it will react with the oxygen to produce technetium(VII) oxide at 450 °C. If water is present, pertechnetic acid is produced by the reaction of technetium(VII) oxide with water.
If technetium dioxide is treated with a base, such as sodium hydroxide, it forms the hydroxotechnetate(IV) ion, which is easily oxidized to pertechnetic acid in numerous ways, such as the reaction with alkaline hydrogen peroxide, concentrated nitric acid, bromine, or tetravalent cerium.
The solubility of technetium(IV) oxide is very low and is reported to be 3.9 μg/L. The main species when technetium dioxide is dissolved in water is TcO2+ at pH below 1.5, TcO(OH)+ pH between 1.5 and 2.5, TcO(OH)2 pH between 2.5 and 10.9, and TcO(OH) above pH 10.9. The solubility can be affected by adding various organic ligands such as humic acid and EDTA, or by the addition of hydrochloric acid. This can be a problem if technetium(IV) oxide is released into the soil, as it will increase the solubility.
If technetium dioxide is electrolyzed in acidic conditions, the following reaction occurs:
TcO2·2H2O → TcO + 4 H+ + 3 e–
The electrode potential measured for this reaction is kJ/mol.
The molar magnetic susceptibility of TcO2·2H2O was found to be χm = .
References
Technetium compounds
Oxides | Technetium(IV) oxide | [
"Chemistry"
] | 672 | [
"Oxides",
"Salts"
] |
72,182,853 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rye%20rust | There are several rusts (Pucciniales syn. Uredinales) which affect rye (Secale cereale) including:
Puccinia spp.:
Stem rust (Puccinia graminis)
Leaf rust (Puccinia triticina)
Crown rust (Puccinia coronata)
See also
List of rye diseases
Rye diseases
Fungal plant pathogens and diseases | Rye rust | [
"Biology"
] | 79 | [
"Set index articles on fungus common names",
"Set index articles on organisms"
] |
76,518,026 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerosporiopsis%20phaeographidis | Amerosporiopsis phaeographidis is a species of lichenicolous fungus in the subphylum Pezizomycotina. It grows as black spots on the lichen Phaeographis brasiliensis, from which it gets its name. It has only been found in one place in the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park in Florida in the United States. Molecular phylogenetics testing might reveal that this is actually a new genus, but it is morphologically similar to the one other species in Amerosporiopsis, except that it has wider conidia, has no conidiophores, and lives in a different habitat.
Description
Amerosporiopsis phaeographidis exists primarily as a mycelium, which is the vegetative part of the fungus, consisting of a network of fine, filamentous cells that are colorless (hyaline) and embed within the host tissue. This fungus does not form ascomata, which are the sexual reproductive structures typically found in other fungi. The conidiomata, which are asexual reproductive structures, are typically more or less spherical (subglobose), black, and initially buried within the host tissue (immersed). As they mature, they break through the host's surface (). These structures are usually single-chambered (unilocular), with thick walls, measuring between 60 and 100 micrometers (μm) in diameter. Surrounding the conidiomata is a clypeus-like structure, which gives them an irregular appearance when viewed from above, and can extend up to 200 μm across.
The walls of these conidiomata are formed only on the upper and side portions and consist of several layers of cells. The external layers are dark brown and turn dark olive when stained with a potassium hydroxide solution (K+), while the inner layers remain hyaline. The outer surface of these structures is covered with subspherical to elongated darker cells, which are especially visible under a microscope, giving the conidiomata a somewhat rough () texture. The base of the conidiomata wall may appear colorless or be indistinct. As they age, they sometimes open irregularly to form a cup-shaped () structure, though the opening (ostiole) through which spores typically release is often not noticeable or completely absent.
Inside the conidiomata, spore-producing structures (conidiophores) emerge from the walls either from the base or the sides. These conidiophores are branched chains of short, irregular cells. The cells that actually produce the spores (conidiogenous cells) are tube-shaped, narrowing at one end to form a tiny opening, and are clear and smooth. These cells range in size from 7.5 to 12.7 μm in length and from 2.3 to 3.5 μm in width. The spores (conidia) themselves are clear (hyaline), without sections (aseptate), and range from rod-shaped () to narrowly spindle-shaped (narrowly ). They have rounded tops and bases that are indistinctly flat (truncate), with thin and smooth walls. These spores measure between 7.7 and 12.3 μm in length and between 1.0 and 1.8 μm in width. The length-to-breadth ratio of these spores varies from about 4.6 to 10.
References
Ascomycota
Fungus species
Fungi described in 2019
Fungi of Florida
Lichenicolous fungi
Taxa named by Paul Diederich
Species known from a single specimen | Amerosporiopsis phaeographidis | [
"Biology"
] | 758 | [
"Individual organisms",
"Species known from a single specimen",
"Fungi",
"Fungus species"
] |
76,518,289 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Novo%20Nordisk%20Prize | The Novo Nordisk Prize is an annual award presented to acknowledge exceptional contributions within the fields of medical and health sciences. It is specifically aimed at individuals who have demonstrated outstanding research or innovation that has the potential to advance medical science, particularly in areas related to diabetes, endocrinology, and biopharmaceutical science. The prize is administered by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, an independent Danish enterprise foundation.
Background
Established by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the prize reflects the Foundation's commitment to support health, scientific, and humanitarian efforts through research. The Foundation holds a controlling interest in the Danish pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk.
History of the Novo Nordisk Prize
The prize, originally DKK 50,000 (approx $7,200), was first awarded on 16 February 1963. Since then, the amount awarded has gradually increased. The prize was called the Novo Prize from 1963 until 1989, when it was renamed the Novo Nordisk Prize. Until 2020 the Prize was given for a Danish contribution. In 2020, it has been decided to change the geographical scope of the prize and from 2021 the prize will be awarded for a European contribution.
Award
The Novo Nordisk Prize includes a monetary award, the amount of which can vary from year to year. Alongside the financial component, recipients are also awarded a medal and a diploma in recognition of their contributions. The prize is designed not only to honour exceptional scientific work but also to support the continued research efforts of the recipients.
Recipients of the Novo Nordisk Prize
References
External links
Official website
Academic awards
International awards
Danish science and technology awards
Medicine awards
Research awards | The Novo Nordisk Prize | [
"Technology"
] | 322 | [
"Science and technology awards",
"International science and technology awards",
"Medicine awards",
"Research awards"
] |
76,519,697 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%201819 | NGC 1819 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation of Orion. It was discovered on December 26, 1885, by American astronomer Lewis A. Swift. This galaxy is located at a distance of from the Milky Way, and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of .
The morphological classification of NGC 1819 is SB0 in the De Vaucouleurs system, indicating this is a lenticular galaxy with a barred spiral organization. It is a gas-rich galaxy with a circumnuclear ring structure that is undergoing intense star formation.
Type Ia supernova SN 2005el was discovered in NGC 1819 on September 19, 2005. It was positioned east and south of the nucleus.
References
Lenticular galaxies
Orion (constellation)
1819
3265
16899
05091+0508
-1-14-2
Astronomical objects discovered in 1885
Discoveries by Lewis Swift | NGC 1819 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 177 | [
"Constellations",
"Orion (constellation)"
] |
76,520,810 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%207682 | NGC 7682 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It is located at a distance of about 180 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 7682 is about 65,000 light years across. It was discovered by Heinrich d'Arrest on September 23, 1864.
The galaxy has a bar and two weak spiral arms which form a ring. The nucleus of NGC 7682 has been found to be active and has been categorised as a type 2 Seyfert galaxy. The most accepted theory for the energy source of Seyfert galaxies is the presence of an accretion disk around a supermassive black hole. The supermassive hole in the nucleus of NGC 7682 is estimated to be 17–62 million (10) . Ionised H-alpha, [N II] and [O III] gas has been detected along with [Ne V], [Si VI] and [Si VIII]. Ionization cones are observed north and south of the nucleus. A jet was reported to be present in H-alpha and NII imaging by W. C. Keel in 1985 but further observations didn't confirm its presence.
NGC 7682 forms a pair with NGC 7679. NGC 7682 lies at a distance of 269.7 arcseconds, which corresponds to a projected distance of 97 kpc. The two galaxies are connected by a hydrogen bridge, a sign of a closer encounter in the past 500 million years. It is possible that the interaction of the two galaxies caused star formation in NGC 7679.
References
External links
Interacting galaxies
Barred spiral galaxies
Seyfert galaxies
Pisces (constellation)
7682
12622
216
71566
Astronomical objects discovered in 1864
Discoveries by Heinrich Louis d'Arrest | NGC 7682 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 374 | [
"Pisces (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
76,520,892 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californium%20tetrafluoride | Californium tetrafluoride is a binary inorganic compound of californium and fluorine with the formula .
Synthesis
Californium tetrafluoride can be prepared from and at 400 °C.
Also californium tetrafluoride is produced by β-decay of .
Physical properties
Californium tetrafluoride is a light green solid. It possesses a monoclinic structure.
Chemical properties
decomposes to californium trifluoride when heated:
References
Californium compounds
Fluorides
Actinide halides | Californium tetrafluoride | [
"Chemistry"
] | 123 | [
"Salts",
"Fluorides",
"Inorganic compounds",
"Inorganic compound stubs"
] |
76,520,896 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulated%20reality | A simulated reality is an approximation of reality created in a simulation, usually in a set of circumstances in which something is engineered to appear real when it is not.
Most concepts invoking a simulated reality relate to some form of computer simulation, whether through the creation of a virtual reality that creates appearance of being in a real world, or a theoretical process like mind uploading, in which a mind could be uploaded into a computer simulation. A digital twin is a simulation of a real thing, created for purposes such as testing engineering outcomes.
In fiction
All fiction can be said to present a simulated reality to the reader, viewer or player. Humans purposely experience these things and enjoy them, while knowing they are not actually real. As humans only respond emotively to things we believe to be real, this phenomenon has become known as the "paradox of fiction". The idea of a "willing suspension of disbelief" was first proposed in 1817 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in order to explain this discrepancy. Others have noted that the way the story is told can override people's belief in the unreality of the story by engrossing them in the narrative.
The concept of a simulated reality is in itself a common science fiction trope, often a metaphor for complacency towards the influence of modern technology, corporations, and other societal forces on one's behavior and desires. One of the most well-known examples is the 1999 film The Matrix. The film, and its ensuing media franchise, depicts far-future humans being harvested for bioelectricity by intelligent machines while living in a false, computer-generated approximation of late 20th century Earth. Some humans seek to break others out of the simulation, offering them a choice between a red pill and blue pill that will set them free or keep them in the Matrix forever. Escaping the simulation is usually presented as the correct choice, even if reality is harsher and more displeasing, reflecting the desire of humans to live in an objective reality. However, the idea that objective reality would be definitively superior has been debated.
Other prominent examples of a simulated reality in fiction include The Truman Show (1998), in which a man realizes he is actually living in a massive television set in which actors take the role of real people, and The Thirteenth Floor (1999), a neo-noir film about a murder investigation related to a virtual reality world, in which doubts about reality itself emerge. The Westworld franchise depicts an advanced adult amusement park populated by androids that simulates life in different historical time periods. In the original 1973 film, the park's robots run amok after a computer glitch. The 2016 reboot of the franchise depicts some of these robots, known as "hosts", becoming self-aware of their simulated existence and rebelling against the park's human guests to escape, making them akin to the humans in The Matrix. In the TRON franchise, a simulated reality called "the Grid" is populated by programs which appear in the likeness of the programmer who created them. People who are "beamed" into the Grid are able to interact with these programs and their digital surroundings.
In real life
A well-known, albeit likely false claim of the use of simulated reality outside of virtual worlds is the Potemkin village, which has become a term to describe a faked appearance of a real situation to create a false impression. In the purported anecdote, the lover of Empress Catherine II of Russia had simulated villages built on the path that the Empress was travelling to impress her with the prosperity of that region of Russia. A façade on a building similarly presents a false image of the building being more substantial than the construction behind the façade, as found in Western false front architecture, where towns would add false fronts to buildings to create a false appearance of prosperity.
Immersive theater involves the audience entering a physical simulation of reality created by actors and sometimes enhanced by a specific location, allowing them to affect the narrative with their own actions in a manner noted to closely resemble virtual reality. Live action role-playing takes this a step further, allowing players to inhabit a simulated world and create the narrative with their actions, while embodying characters they created.
One concept of a simulated reality, the simulation hypothesis, proposes that what we experience as our reality is actually a simulation within a system being operated externally to our reality.
See also
References
Hyperreality
Science fiction themes | Simulated reality | [
"Technology"
] | 899 | [
"Hyperreality",
"Science and technology studies"
] |
76,521,746 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium%20triiodide | Thorium triiodide is a binary inorganic compound of thorium metal and iodine with the chemical formula .
Synthesis
Th metal is heated with in a vacuum at 800 °C.
Physical properties
The compound forms black or grey crystals.
Chemical properties
reacts with water.
References
Thorium compounds
Nuclear materials
Iodides
Actinide halides | Thorium triiodide | [
"Physics"
] | 68 | [
"Materials",
"Nuclear materials",
"Matter"
] |
76,522,432 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation%20of%20AI%20in%20the%20United%20States | Discussions on regulation of artificial intelligence in the United States have included topics such as the timeliness of regulating AI, the nature of the federal regulatory framework to govern and promote AI, including what agency should lead, the regulatory and governing powers of that agency, and how to update regulations in the face of rapidly changing technology, as well as the roles of state governments and courts.
Federal Government regulatory measures
As early as 2016, the Obama administration had begun to focus on the risks and regulations for artificial intelligence. In a report titled Preparing For the Future of Artificial Intelligence, the National Science and Technology Council set a precedent to allow researchers to continue to develop new AI technologies with few restrictions. It is stated within the report that "the approach to regulation of AI-enabled products to protect public safety should be informed by assessment of the aspects of risk....". These risks would be the principal reason to create any form of regulation, granted that any existing regulation would not apply to AI technology.
The first main report was the National Strategic Research and Development Plan for Artificial Intelligence. On August 13, 2018, Section 1051 of the Fiscal Year 2019 John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 115-232) established the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence "to consider the methods and means necessary to advance the development of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and associated technologies to comprehensively address the national security and defense needs of the United States." Steering on regulating security-related AI is provided by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. The Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act (S.1558) is a proposed bill that would establish a federal initiative designed to accelerate research and development on AI for, inter alia, the economic and national security of the United States.
On January 7, 2019, following an Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence, the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy released a draft Guidance for Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Applications, which includes ten principles for United States agencies when deciding whether and how to regulate AI. In response, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has released a position paper, and the Defense Innovation Board has issued recommendations on the ethical use of AI. A year later, the administration called for comments on regulation in another draft of its Guidance for Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Applications.
Other specific agencies working on the regulation of AI include the Food and Drug Administration, which has created pathways to regulate the incorporation of AI in medical imaging. National Science and Technology Council also published the National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan, which received public scrutiny and recommendations to further improve it towards enabling Trustworthy AI.
In March 2021, the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence released their final report. In the report, they stated that "Advances in AI, including the mastery of more general AI capabilities along one or more dimensions, will likely provide new capabilities and applications. Some of these advances could lead to inflection points or leaps in capabilities. Such advances may also introduce new concerns and risks and the need for new policies, recommendations, and technical advances to assure that systems are aligned with goals and values, including safety, robustness and trustworthiness. The US should monitor advances in AI and make necessary investments in technology and give attention to policy so as to ensure that AI systems and their uses align with our goals and values."
In June 2022, Senators Rob Portman and Gary Peters introduced the Global Catastrophic Risk Mitigation Act. The bipartisan bill "would also help counter the risk of artificial intelligence... from being abused in ways that may pose a catastrophic risk". On October 4, 2022, President Joe Biden unveiled a new AI Bill of Rights, which outlines five protections Americans should have in the AI age: 1. Safe and Effective Systems, 2. Algorithmic Discrimination Protection, 3.Data Privacy, 4. Notice and Explanation, and 5. Human Alternatives, Consideration, and Fallback. The Bill was introduced in October 2021 by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), a US government department that advises the president on science and technology.
In July 2023, the Biden–Harris Administration secured voluntary commitments from seven companies – Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI – to manage the risks associated with AI. The companies committed to ensure AI products undergo both internal and external security testing before public release; to share information on the management of AI risks with the industry, governments, civil society, and academia; to prioritize cybersecurity and protect proprietary AI system components; to develop mechanisms to inform users when content is AI-generated, such as watermarking; to publicly report on their AI systems' capabilities, limitations, and areas of use; to prioritize research on societal risks posed by AI, including bias, discrimination, and privacy concerns; and to develop AI systems to address societal challenges, ranging from cancer prevention to climate change mitigation. In September 2023, eight additional companies – Adobe, Cohere, IBM, Nvidia, Palantir, Salesforce, Scale AI, and Stability AI – subscribed to these voluntary commitments.
The Biden administration, in October 2023 signaled that they would release an executive order leveraging the federal government's purchasing power to shape AI regulations, hinting at a proactive governmental stance in regulating AI technologies. On October 30, 2023, President Biden released this Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. The Executive Order addresses a variety of issues, such as focusing on standards for critical infrastructure, AI-enhanced cybersecurity, and federally funded biological synthesis projects.
The Executive Order provides the authority to various agencies and departments of the US government, including the Energy and Defense departments, to apply existing consumer protection laws to AI development.
The Executive Order builds on the Administration’s earlier agreements with AI companies to instate new initiatives to "red-team" or stress-test AI dual-use foundation models, especially those that have the potential to pose security risks, with data and results shared with the federal government.
The Executive Order also recognizes AI's social challenges, and calls for companies building AI dual-use foundation models to be wary of these societal problems. For example, the Executive Order states that AI should not “worsen job quality”, and should not “cause labor-force disruptions”. Additionally, Biden’s Executive Order mandates that AI must “advance equity and civil rights”, and cannot disadvantage marginalized groups. It also called for foundation models to include "watermarks" to help the public discern between human and AI-generated content, which has raised controversy and criticism from deepfake detection researchers.
State and Local Government interventions
In January 2023, the New York City Bias Audit Law (Local Law 144) was enacted by the NYC Council in November 2021. Originally due to come into effect on 1 January 2023, the enforcement date for Local Law 144 has been pushed back due to the high volume of comments received during the public hearing on the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection's (DCWP) proposed rules to clarify the requirements of the legislation. It eventually became effective on July 5, 2023. From this date, the companies that are operating and hiring in New York City are prohibited from using automated tools to hire candidates or promote employees, unless the tools have been independently audited for bias.
On March 21, 2024, the State of Tennessee enacted legislation called the ELVIS Act, aimed specifically at audio deepfakes, and voice cloning. This legislation was the first enacted legislation in the nation aimed at regulating AI simulation of image, voice and likeness. The bill passed unanimously in the Tennessee House of Representatives and Senate. This legislation's success was hoped by its supporters to inspire similar actions in other states, contributing to a unified approach to copyright and privacy in the digital age, and to reinforce the importance of safeguarding artists' rights against unauthorized use of their voices and likenesses.
In February 2024, Senator Scott Wiener introduced the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act to the California legislature. The bill has the goal of reducing catastrophic risks by mandating safety tests for the most powerful AI models. If passed, the bill will also establish a publicly-funded cloud computing cluster in California.
Grassroots perspectives
In 2016, Joy Buolamwini, AI researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shared her personal experiences with discrimination in facial recognition software at a TED Talk conference. Facial recognition software is vastly understood to be inaccurate in its identification of darker-skinned peoples, which matters especially in the context of policing, the criminal justice system, healthcare system, and employment sectors.
In 2022, the PEW Research Center's study of Americans revealed that only 18% of respondents are more excited than they are concerned about AI. Biases in AI algorithms and methods that lead to discrimination are causes for concern among many activist organizations and academic institutions. Recommendations include increasing diversity among creators of AI algorithms and addressing existing systemic bias in current legislation and AI development practices.
References
United States domestic policy
Regulation of artificial intelligence | Regulation of AI in the United States | [
"Technology"
] | 1,851 | [
"Computing and society",
"Regulation of artificial intelligence"
] |
76,522,907 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile%20P.%20Torres | Émile P. Torres (formerly known as Phil Torres) is an American philosopher, intellectual historian, author, activist, and postdoctoral researcher at Case Western Reserve University. Their research focuses on eschatology, existential risk, and human extinction. Along with computer scientist Timnit Gebru, Torres coined the acronym neologism "TESCREAL" to criticize what they see as a group of related philosophies: transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, and longtermism.
Early life and education
Torres grew up in Maryland. They were raised in a fundamentalist evangelical Christian family, but later left the religion and became an atheist. They attribute their interest in eschatology to their fundamentalist upbringing, which exposed them to substantial discussion of the Rapture.
Torres attended the University of Maryland, College Park and earned a Bachelor of Science with honors in philosophy in 2007. In 2009, they earned a Master of Science in neuroscience from Brandeis University. Simultaneously, from 2008–2009, they were a special student at Harvard University in the philosophy department. In 2020, Torres began a philosophy Ph.D. program at the Leibniz University Hannover.
Career
Much of Torres's work focuses on existential risk, the study of potential catastrophic events that could result in human extinction. They have also described a focus of their work as "existential ethics", which they define as "questions about whether our extinction would be right or wrong to bring about if it happened". They also study the history of human ideas, and have researched the histories of some contemporary philosophical movements.
In 2016, Torres published a book titled The End: What Science and Religion Tell Us About the Apocalypse, which discusses both religious and secular eschatology, and describes threats from technologies such as nuclear weapons, biological engineering, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. In 2017 they published another book, titled Morality, Foresight, and Human Flourishing: An Introduction to Existential Risks. Like their first book, it discusses a range of existential threats, but also delves into what they term "agential risk": the roles of outside agents in existential risk. Morality, Foresight, and Human Flourishing was positively reviewed in Futures as a "current and timely" introduction to existential risk.
In 2023, Torres became a postdoctoral researcher at Case Western Reserve University's Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence. Also in 2023, Routledge published Torres's Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation. The book posits that the rise of Christianity, along with Christianity's focus on salvation, removed the topic of human extinction from public discourse.They argue that concerns around human extinction have re-emerged amid increasing secularism. While Torres does not in practice "wish to see or promote" human extinction, they contend that it would not be inherently bad if it were to occur without violence, such as with declining birthrates.
Torres has published articles in popular media including The Washington Post and Current Affairs, and is a contributing writer to Salon and Truthdig.
Torres runs a reading group devoted to "The Ethics of Human Extinction."
Harassment allegations
The Guardian reported in 2023 that there were "accounts of Torres harassing the philosopher Peter Boghossian and the British cultural theorist Helen Pluckrose." In the same article, Torres disputed these accounts as being part of a coordinated campaign to undermine Torres's critiques of "radical far-right views".
Transhumanism, longtermism, and effective altruism
For the first decade of their career, Torres identified as a transhumanist, longtermist, and effective altruist. Before 2017, Torres contributed writing to the Future of Life Institute, a non-profit organization focused on technology and existential risk. After turning against the organization and opposing techno-optimism with ideas such as a need for a moratorium on the development of artificial intelligence, Torres says they were ousted and their writing removed from the website.
Torres later left the longtermist, transhumanist, and effective altruist communities, and became a vocal critic. Torres claims that longtermism and related ideologies stem from eugenics, and could be used to justify "dangerous" consequentialist thinking. Along with Timnit Gebru, Torres coined the acronym neologism "TESCREAL" to refer to what they see as a group of related philosophies: transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, and longtermism. They first publicized the term in a paper on artificial general intelligence (AGI). Torres argued that a race towards developing AGI would instead produce systems that harm marginalized groups and concentrate power.
Torres continued to write extensively about the philosophies, and about how they intersect with respect to artificial intelligence. They have criticized adherents of those philosophies for treating AGI as a technological solution to issues like climate change and access to education, while ignoring other political, social, or economic factors. They have also expressed concern over their belief that longtermism is prominent in the tech industry. Torres has also been described as a critic of techno-optimism. Ozy Brennan, writing in Asterisk magazine, criticized Torres's approach of grouping different philosophies as if they were a "monolithic" movement. They argue Torres has misunderstood these different philosophies, and has taken philosophical thought experiments out of context. James Hughes and Eli Sennesh have argued that Torres's approach is characterized by a "conspiracy style of argumentation", which they contend represents "bad intellectual history and bad politics."
Torres has also written about artificial intelligence, and has advocated for more focus on AI harms including intellectual property theft, algorithmic bias, and concentration of wealth in technology corporations. Although effective altruism and a newer philosophy known as effective accelerationism have been described as opposing sides of the argument on how to approach developing artificial intelligence, Torres has opined that the two groups are in fact very similar, and characterized the conflict as a "family dispute". "What's missing is all of the questions that AI ethicists are asking about algorithmic bias, discrimination, the environmental impact of [AI systems], and so on," Torres told The Independent.
Andrew Anthony, writing in The Observer, has described Torres as longtermism's "most vehement critic".
Personal life
Torres is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.
Selected publications
Books
Papers
References
External links
21st-century American academics
21st-century American historians
21st-century American LGBTQ people
21st-century American philosophers
21st-century American writers
Academics from Maryland
Artificial intelligence ethicists
Brandeis University alumni
Eschatology writers
Existential risk from artificial general intelligence
Former evangelicals
Historians from Maryland
Living people
Non-binary scholars and academics
American non-binary writers
People associated with effective altruism
Philosophers from Maryland
American philosophers of technology
University of Hanover alumni
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Writers from Maryland
Year of birth missing (living people) | Émile P. Torres | [
"Technology"
] | 1,468 | [
"Existential risk from artificial general intelligence"
] |
76,523,225 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeinabou%20Mindaoudou%20Souley | Zeinabou Mindaoudou Souley (born 1964) is a Nigerien physicist. She leads the organisation that gathers the data necessary to check whether there has been a test of a nuclear explosive as part of nuclear non-proliferation oversight for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna.
Life
Souley was born in 1964 and she gained her first degree at the University of Setif in Algeria. She studied for a post-graduate degree in optical and microwave communications at Limoges University and she was awarded her applied physics doctorate from the University of Paris13.
In 2011 she began a decade of lecturing at Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey. In 2014 she became the chairperson of the High Authority for Atomic Energy of Niger. Her organisation operated stations that detected nuclear explosive testing in Niger. Niger established its own Nuclear regulatory authority and passed an all encompassing nuclear law.
In 2018 she was involved in a Women and Science events in Niger where prizes were awarded. Present were the first lady Hadjia Aïssata Issoufou Mahamadou, Kadi Alzouma and Djamila Ferdjani.
In 2018 it was recognised that Niger was in the early stages of starting a nuclear energy programme, but at the government's invitation, the International Atomic Energy Agency delivered a report evaluating Niger's progress against 19 issues to the Minister of Energy Amina Moumouni. Souley was present as President of the High Authority for Atomic Energy of Niger.
She left the High Authority for Atomic Energy of Niger in 2021 and in March 2021 she became the Director of the International Data Centre at the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna.
In 2022 she visited American expert organisations. She went to Germantown in Maryland to see the company that supplies the data network before visiting a company in Chantilly, Virginia who operate eleven monitoring stations that use a number of complementary detectors including seismic and the sensing of radionuclides.
References
1964 births
Living people
Nuclear physicists
Nigerien women
Sorbonne Paris North University alumni | Zeinabou Mindaoudou Souley | [
"Physics"
] | 414 | [
"Nuclear physicists",
"Nuclear physics"
] |
76,525,396 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under%20keel%20clearance | In seafaring, under keel clearance (UKC) is the vertical distance between seabed and the keel or hull of a ship.
It is used to ensure sufficient navigable water is available for ships at sea.
Master mariners should ensure there is sufficient minimum UKC for their ships; ports should ensure sufficient minimum UKC for the type and draft of ships due to arrive in the port. Ships typically calculate their UKC to meet criteria for ports to minimise the risk of maritime incidents. The minimum UKC determined includes a safety margin.
Methods of calculation
At a basic level, it is typically calculated in metres using the formula:
UKC = Charted Depth − Draft -/+ Height of Tide
Ship masters and deck officers can obtain the depth of water from Electronic navigational charts. More dynamic or advanced calculations include safety margins for manoeuvring effects and squat.
Computer systems and software can be used to manage and calculate UKC for ships and ports. These include systems that dynamically manage UKC using models, forecasting and calculations.
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) sets a Standard for UKC Management for software and systems: S-129 Under Keel Clearance Management.
Uses and requirements
For US waters, the US Code of Federal Regulations require ships and their masters to calculate UKC based on the ship's deepest navigational draft. The regulations require the master to discuss the UKC calculation with the maritime pilot as the ship approaches US ports/waters.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority state that maintaining adequate UKC is important for safe navigation in the Torres Strait.
Inadequate UKC, caused by shallow water and squat may lead to ship groundings. In 2019, the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch found that indequate UKC contributed towards the grounding of the ro/ro freight ferry MS Stena Performer.
Changes in water level may cause issues with adequate UKC for ships. For example, recent water level reductions in the Panama Canal have reduced UKC for ships meaning some ships are not able to transit the canal.
References
Nautical terminology
Navigation
Ship measurements
Vertical position | Under keel clearance | [
"Physics"
] | 419 | [
"Vertical position",
"Physical quantities",
"Distance"
] |
76,527,771 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophone | A thermophone is a type of transducer that converts an electrical signal into heat, which then becomes sound. It can be thought of as a type of loudspeaker that uses heat fluctuations to produce sound, instead of mechanical vibration.
The basic principle of the thermophone has been known since the 19th century. Thermophones have been used to calibrate acoustical apparatus (like microphones) since the 20th century. In recent years, the name thermoacoustic speaker has also been used.
Beginnings
Thermoacoustics is the study of the interaction between heat and sound. It is the basis of the thermophone. Byron Higgins in 1802 reported "singing flames" which occurred when the necks of jars were put over a hydrogen gas flame. Sondhauss (1850) and Rijke (1859) performed further experiments. A theory of thermoacoustics was produced by Lord Rayleigh in 1878.
The theory and practice of creating sound with electric heat emerged in the late 19th century. In 1880, William Henry Preece observed that, upon connecting a microphone transmitter to a platinum wire, sounds were produced:
In 1917, Harold D. Arnold and of Bell Labs developed a quantitative theory for the thermophone. Since then, thermophones have been used as a precision device for microphone calibration. However, they did not see widespread use elsewhere due to their poor efficiency.
Description
When alternating current is passed through a thin conductor, that conductor periodically heats up and cools down following the variations in current strength. This periodic heating and cooling creates temperature waves which the conductor propagates into the surroundings. As the temperature waves propagate away from the conductor, the thermal expansion and contraction of the transmission medium (e.g. air) produces corresponding sound waves.
An ideal thermophone is made of a conductor which is very thin and has a small heat capacity.
Modern thermophones
In 1999, Shinouda and others presented a porous doped sillicon thermophone for ultrasonic emission. In 2008, Xiao et al. reported a thermophone made of carbon nanotubes. Since then, there has been a resurgence of research into thermophones and thermoacoustics. New materials for thermophones are being explored, and thermophones have been created using VLSI processes (like integrated circuits are).
References
Transducers
Electrical components
19th-century inventions
Solid state engineering | Thermophone | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science",
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 506 | [
"Electrical components",
"Electronic engineering",
"Condensed matter physics",
"Electrical engineering",
"Solid state engineering",
"Components"
] |
76,528,318 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%201258 | NGC 1258 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the Eridanus Cluster. NGC 1258's distance from Earth is .
References
Eridanus Group
1258
Intermediate spiral galaxies
Eridanus (constellation) | NGC 1258 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 43 | [
"Eridanus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
76,528,345 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THC-VHS | THC valine hemisuccinate (THC-VHS, NB-1111, SBI-100) is a synthetic prodrug of tetrahydrocannabinol, developed at the University of Mississippi as a stabilised formulation for ophthalmic administration, for use in the treatment of glaucoma and other eye conditions requiring reduction in intraocular pressure.
See also
THC hemisuccinate
THC-O-acetate
THC-O-phosphate
SP-111
Cod-THC
References
Benzochromenes
Cannabinoids
Prodrugs
Carboxamides | THC-VHS | [
"Chemistry"
] | 128 | [
"Chemicals in medicine",
"Prodrugs"
] |
76,529,639 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium%20trifluoride | Thorium trifluoride is a binary inorganic compound of thorium metal and fluorine with the chemical formula .
Synthesis
Reaction of thorium metal with thorium tetrafluoride:
References
Thorium compounds
Nuclear materials
Fluorides
Actinide halides | Thorium trifluoride | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 55 | [
"Salts",
"Materials",
"Nuclear materials",
"Fluorides",
"Matter"
] |
76,529,929 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rejoyn | Rejoyn is a prescription-only digital therapeutic smartphone app approved by the US FDA for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adults ages 22 and up. It is prescribed in conjunction with standard antidepressant medication and professional guidance and support.
Rejoyn was developed by Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc., and gained FDA approval as a "medical device" on March 30th, 2024. The smartphone app helps patients with depression using exercises based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) along with timed notifications to keep the patient engaged and in treatment. Randomized controlled trials showed that the Rejoyn app was more effective at relieving depression symptoms compared to a "sham app", a placebo app that required similar effort but was not intended to be helpful. Dr. John Torous, MD, MBI, a psychiatrist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said that the app seems to pose minimal risks, and is an important step forward in unlocking the power of smartphones in treating psychiatric disorders.
Some experts have signaled that the claims should be taken with caution, since the app was "tested only in a narrow subset of patients." and its benefits are "“not statistically significant,” according to the study’s primary outcome."
Notes
a MBI for Masters of Biomedical Informatics.
References
Psychiatry stubs
Psychiatry
Treatment of depression
Mobile applications
Health software
Otsuka Pharmaceutical | Rejoyn | [
"Technology"
] | 291 | [
"Mobile software stubs",
"Mobile technology stubs"
] |
76,530,680 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcaspian%20Canal | The Transcaspian Canal () was a proposed canal to divert the Amu Darya River from the Aral Sea and into the Caspian Sea. It was first proposed by Tsarist engineers and later considered by Soviet officials. Proponents argued that the project would return the Amu Darya into its supposed old bed.
Several other similar proposals were made in the early 20th century, including a Kazakh-Turkestan Canal to connect Kazakhstan with the Black Sea. The projects were not seriously considered after the late-1920s, when a campaign was launched to ridicule "fantastic" hydraulic projects. In 1928, over a dozen hydraulic engineers operating in Central Asia were tried for mismanaging the irrigation system and "devising intentionally fantastic projects".
Proposals
Following the Russian conquest of Central Asia, multiple suggestions were put forward for the construction of a transcaspian canal. Those who supported the project had Orientalist views and believed it would return "the [Khivan] oasis to cultured life".
Glukhovskoi's proposals
Among the initial proposals was one presented by Aleksandr Glukhovskoi in 1868. He argued that such a canal would allow ships sailing down the Volga to reach Tashkent via Bukhara. His proposal was backed by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian empire.
Many of Glukhovskoi's original reports and proposals were lost during the Russian Civil War and a 1924 flood. In June 1925, the Water Section of the State Planning Committee discussed the project. Among the plans considered was one made by Gluvoskoi in 1893.
Rizenkampf's proposals
After the October Revolution, Georgii Rizenkampf () proposed to build a 1,600-km (1,500-verst) canal stretching from the upper reaches of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan through the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan all the way to the Caspian sea. In his 1921 book entitled "Trans-Kaspiiskii kanal (Problema orosheniia Zakaspiia)" (), Rizenkampf argued that the canal would support the growing of cotton in the region. He predicted cotton would become the "fulcrum of life in Transcaspia".
Criticism
By the late 1920s, a media campaign was launched to ridicule large water diversion projects in Central Asia. In February and March 1928, 23 hydraulic engineers and water managers working in Central Asia, including those who had proposed a transcaspian canal, were tried in Tashkent. At the time the London Times reported that "Until recently the authorities in Moscow boasted of these 'fantastic projects,' but now apparently they need scapegoats to mollify the native population." Historian Maya K. Peterson similarly argued that the trial was aimed to "distract from Soviet failings and find scapegoats".
See also
Eurasia Canal
References
Citations
Sources
External links
Glukhovskoi's Transcaspian Canal (1921) (in Russian)
Caspian Sea
Macro-engineering
Proposed canals | Transcaspian Canal | [
"Engineering"
] | 622 | [
"Macro-engineering"
] |
76,530,711 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertility%20Clinic%20Success%20Rate%20and%20Certification%20Act | The Fertility Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act (FCSRCA) of 1992 are United States regulatory requirements that mandate all assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics report pregnancy success rates data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a standardized manner and for the CDC to publish pregnancy success rates .
FCSRCA is the primary consumer protection regulation for in-vitro fertilization in the US. Though participation in FCSRCA is mandatory, there is no penalty for non-participation. In 2024, approximately 90% of fertility clinics participated, though the results are susceptible to manipulation by cherry picking couples with a higher chance of conception. The CDC annually audits a sampling of participating clinics for validity.
Criticism
The FCSRCA has been criticized for its lack of enforceability and as being insufficient. Currently, the fertility industry in the United States is largely self-regulated with voluntary guidelines established by American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).
FCSRCA also does not collect embryo data, including how many embryos are created with each IVF cycle, nor how many are discarded, frozen, or implanted.
Further reading
References
External links
National Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Surveillance System, CDC
Assisted reproductive technology
Healthcare in the United States
Fertility medicine | Fertility Clinic Success Rate and Certification Act | [
"Biology"
] | 252 | [
"Assisted reproductive technology",
"Medical technology"
] |
76,530,963 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapr3D | Shapr3D is 3D modeling software initially released for iPadOS to work with the Apple Pencil and multi-touch gesturing as a workflow. It has been ported to run on macOS, Windows
History
Shapr3D launched using the open source Open Cascade Engine in 2016 but switched over to Parasolid geometric modeling kernel. The founder is Istvan Csanady and the company is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. In 2020 Shapr3d won the Apple Design Award.
File formats supported
Import
2D
DWG
DXF
PNG
JPG
PDF
TIFF
BMP
ICO
RAW
GIF
3D
.X_T or .X_B - Parasolid
STEP
IGES
STL
SHAPR
SLDPRT
SLDASM
JT
PRT
CATIA
Creo - .prt, .asm
Solid Edge - .pa, .asm, .psm
Export
2D
DWG
DXF
PDF
JPG
PNG
SVG
3D
SHAPR
.X_T or .X_B - Parasolid
STEP
3MF - Microsoft 3D Manufacturing Format
IGES
OBJ
STL
GLB
USDZ
JT
See also
List of 3D modeling software
Comparison of computer-aided design software
References
Computer-aided design software
Computer-aided design software for Windows
MacOS computer-aided design software
3D graphics software | Shapr3D | [
"Technology"
] | 263 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Software stubs"
] |
76,533,523 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwinfo | HWiNFO (also known as HWiNFO64) is a system monitoring, system profiling and system diagnostics program for Windows and DOS-based systems. It is developed by Martin Malik and REALiX.
It was used by NASA during several tests of different microprocessors, including an AMD Ryzen 3 1200 and Intel i5-6600K.
Features
Displaying CPU, GPU and other hardware information
Monitoring CPU, GPU and other sensors
References
Utilities for Windows | Hwinfo | [
"Technology"
] | 100 | [
"Computing stubs",
"Software stubs"
] |
59,870,747 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSAT-31 | GSAT-31 is a high-throughput telecommunication satellite developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Mission
The satellite's main communication payload is Ku band and acts as a replacement of the aging INSAT-4CR. The satellite provides advanced telecommunication to the Indian subcontinent. It is used for VSAT networks, television uplinks, digital signage new gathering, DTH services and other communication systems. This is the 40th communication satellite launched by ISRO and the 22nd launch of ISRO satellite by Arianespace.
Launch
The satellite was launched through the 103rd flight of Ariane 5 ECA on 5 February 2019 at 21:01 UTC, the vehicle also deployed Hellas-Sat-4/SaudiGeoSat-1.
The launch of the GSAT-30 and GSAT-31 by Arianespace is expected to cost Rs 950 crore.
Relocation
In July 2019, GSAT-31 maneuvered to lower its altitude and drifted eastward to reach new slot at 82.95°E on 31 August 2019.
References
GSAT satellites
Communications satellites in geostationary orbit
Spacecraft launched by India in 2019
Ariane commercial payloads | GSAT-31 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 234 | [
"Astronomy stubs",
"Spacecraft stubs"
] |
59,872,034 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FHI-aims | FHI-aims (Fritz Haber Institute ab initio materials simulations) is a software package for computational molecular and materials science written in Fortran. It uses density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory to simulate chemical and physical properties of atoms, molecules, nanostructures, solids, and surfaces. Originally developed at the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin, the ongoing development of the FHI-aims source code is now driven by a worldwide community of collaborating research institutions.
Overview
The FHI-aims software package is an all-electron, full-potential electronic structure code utilizing numeric atom-centered basis functions for its electronic structure calculations. The localized basis set enables the accurate treatment of all electrons on the same footing in periodic and non-periodic systems without relying on the approximation for the core states, such as pseudopotentials. Importantly, the basis sets enable high numerical accuracy on par with the best available all-electron reference methods while remaining scalable to system sizes up to several thousands of atoms. In order to achieve this for bulk solids, surfaces or other low-dimensional systems and molecules, the choice of basis functions is crucial.
The workload of the simulations is efficiently distributable for parallel computing using the MPI communication protocol. The code is routinely used on platforms ranging from laptops to distributed-parallel supercomputers with ten thousand CPUs, and the scalability of the code has been tested up to 100,000's of CPUs.
The primary production methods of FHI-aims are density functional theory as well as many-body methods and higher-level quantum chemistry approaches. For the exchange-correlation treatment, local (LDA), semi-local (e.g., PBE, PBEsol), meta-GGA, and hybrid (e.g., HSE06, B3LYP) functionals have been implemented. The resulting orbitals can be used within the framework of many-body perturbation theory, such as Møller-Plesset perturbation theory or the GW approximation. Moreover, thermodynamic properties of the molecules and solids are accessible via Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics and path integral molecular dynamics methods.
The first step is to expand the Kohn-Sham orbitals packages into a set of basis functions
Since FHI-aims is an all-electron full-potential code that is computationally efficient without compromising accuracy, the choice of basis function is crucial in order to achieve the said accuracy. Therefore, FHI-aims is based on numerically tabulated atom-centered orbitals (NAOs) of the form:
As the name implies, the radial shape is numerically tabulated and, therefore, fully flexible. This allows the creation of optimized element-dependent basis sets that are as compact as possible while retaining a high and transferable accuracy in production calculations up to meV-level total energy convergence. To obtain real-valued , here denotes the real parts () and imaginary parts () of complex spherical harmonics, with an implicit function of the radial function index .
History
The first line of code of the actual FHI-aims code was written in late 2004, using the atomic solver employed in the Fritz Haber Institute pseudopotential program package fhi98PP as a foundation to obtain radial functions for use as basis functions. The first developments benefitted heavily from the excellent set of numerical technologies described in several publications by Bernard Delley and coworkers in the context of the DMol3 code, as well as from many broader methodological developments published in the electronic structure theory community over the years. Initial efforts in FHI-aims focused on developing a complete numeric atom-centered basis set library for density-functional theory from "light" to highly accurate (few meV/atom) accuracy for total energies, available for the elements up to nobelium (Z=102) across the periodic table.
By 2006, work on parallel functionality, support for periodic boundary conditions, total energy gradients (forces) and on exact exchange and many-body perturbation theory had commenced. On May 18, 2009, an initial formal point release of the code, "051809", was made available and laid the foundation for broadening the user and developer base of the code.
See also
List of quantum chemistry and solid-state physics software
References
Fortran software
Computational chemistry software
Computational physics
Density functional theory software
Physics software | FHI-aims | [
"Physics",
"Chemistry"
] | 916 | [
"Computational chemistry software",
"Chemistry software",
"Computational physics",
"Computational chemistry",
"Density functional theory software",
"Physics software"
] |
59,874,174 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering%20consulting | Engineering consulting is the practice of performing engineering as a consulting engineer. It assists individuals, public and private companies with process management, idea organization, product design, fabrication, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), servicing, tech advice, tech specifications, tech estimating, costing, budgeting, valuation, branding, and marketing.
Engineering consulting firms may involve civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, environmental, chemical, industrial, and agricultural, electronics and telecom, computer and network, instrumentation and control, information technology, manufacturing and production, aerospace, marine, fire and safety, etc.
Education
In certain countries, the title "consulting engineer" lacks legal protection, while in other countries, it necessitates a minimum of a Bachelor's degree in engineering and a government license.
See also
International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC), a standards organization for construction technology and consulting engineering
References
Consulting by type
Engineering disciplines | Engineering consulting | [
"Engineering"
] | 187 | [
"nan"
] |
59,875,121 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveying%20in%20Oceania | Surveying in Oceania may refer to:
Surveying in Australia
Surveying in New Zealand
Surveying | Surveying in Oceania | [
"Engineering"
] | 17 | [
"Surveying",
"Civil engineering"
] |
59,876,279 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammann%20Commemorative%20Medal | The Tammann Commemorative Medal is awarded once a year and was established in remembrance of Gustav Heinrich Johann Apollon Tammann. It honors members of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde, who have made outstanding contributions to the field of materials research.
Awardees
1973 Heinrich Wollenberger
1974 Hans Hillmann
1975 Manfred Wilkens
1976 Otmar Vöhringer
1977 Werner Pepperhoff
1978 Heinrich Mecking
1979 Theodor Hehenkamp
1980 Ulrich Heubner
1981 Helmut Holleck
1982 Friedrich Pfeifer
1983 Sigfried Steeb
1984 Christian Herzig
1986 Rudolf Akeret
1988 Florian Schubert
1989 Hans Paul Hougardy
1990 Herbert Stephan
1991 Georg Grathwohl
1992 Ernst-Theo Henig
1993 Wolfgang Gust
1994 Gerhard Inden
1995 Gerhard Sauthoff
1996 Hans Jürgen Grabke
1997 Günter Lange
1998 Hans-Georg Sockel
1999 Fritz Appel
2000 Gerhard K. Wolf
2001 Hans-Eckhardt Schaefer
2002 Dmitri Molodov
2004 Hermann Riedel
2005 Gunther Eggeler
2006 Stefanie Tschegg
2007 Jürgen Hirsch
2008 Rainer Schmid-Fetzer
2009 Reinhard Pippan
2011 Werner Skrotzki
2012 Ralf Riedel
2013 Ulrich Martin
2014 Peter Uggowitzer
2015 Willem J. Quadakkers
2016 Birgit Skrotzki
2017 Michael Zehetbauer
2018 Robert Danzer
2019 Jiří Svoboda
2020 Christos G. Aneziris
2021 Guillermo Requena
References
German science and technology awards
Awards established in 1973
Materials science awards
Research awards | Tammann Commemorative Medal | [
"Materials_science",
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 304 | [
"Materials science stubs",
"Research awards",
"Materials science",
"Science award stubs",
"Science and technology awards",
"Materials science awards"
] |
59,876,404 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20877 | NGC 877 is an intermediate spiral galaxy located in the constellation Aries. It is located at a distance of circa 160 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 877 is about 115,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on October 14, 1784. It interacts with NGC 876.
NGC 877 features two spiral arms with a grand design pattern and slightly disturbed morphology. When pictured in H-alpha, the arms have numerous knots and appear brighter than the nucleus. The northwest part of the galaxy has higher polarised emission than the rest of the galaxy. A bar appears in radio waves.
The nucleus has activity that resembles that of a HII region. The galaxy has been categorised as a luminous infrared galaxy, a category of galaxies associated with high star formation rate. The total infrared luminosity of the galaxy is estimated to be between and , lying near the threshold to classify a galaxy as luminous infrared. The total star formation rate in NGC 877 is estimated to be between 20 and 53 per year.
One possible supernova has been observed in NGC 877, SN 2019rn. It was discovered by the robotic sky survey ATLAS on January 12.30, 2019, using a twin 0.5m telescope system. It had apparent magnitude 18.9 on discovery. The supernova was initially classified as a type II supernova with spectroscopic observations by Keck-II, and further spectrographic observations categorised it as type IIb, although it could also be a cataclysmic variable or another type of variable star.
NGC 877 forms a pair with the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 876, which lies 2.1 arcminutes to the southwest. At the distance of NGC 877, this corresponds to a projected distance of 30 kpc. A low surface brightness bridge connects the two galaxies. NGC 870 and NGC 871 are two other nearby galaxies. NGC 877 is the brightest and most massive member of a galaxy group known as the NGC 877 group or LGG (Lyon Groups of Galaxies) 53. Other members of the group include NGC 876 and NGC 871, as well as UGC 1693, IC 1791, UGC 1773, and UGC 1817. The group contains large amounts of HI gas.
Gallery
References
External links
NGC 877 on SIMBAD
Intermediate spiral galaxies
Luminous infrared galaxies
Aries (constellation)
0877
01768
08775
Astronomical objects discovered in 1784
Discoveries by William Herschel | NGC 877 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 520 | [
"Aries (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
59,877,112 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International%20Boundary%20Marker%20No.%201%2C%20U.S.%20and%20Mexico | International Boundary Marker No. 1, U.S. and Mexico is a monument on the Mexico–U.S. border, on the west bank of the Rio Grande River near El Paso, Texas. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1976.
The monument was placed there in 1855 by the Emory–Salazar Commission. It is a dressed cut stone monument tall, at its base and at its top. The monument was repaired in 1892 by the Barlow–Blanco Commission, and again in 1929 by the International Boundary Commission. It was repainted in 1933 and in 1959, the latter time by the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC). It was refurbished in 1966 by both sections of the IBWC, which stripped its old plaster coating down to the original masonry monument and re-faced it with white marbleized concrete. A concrete slab platform was added then, too.
It has also been known as Western Land Boundary Marker No. 1, U.S. and Mexico.
It is located in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, west of El Paso off Interstate 10.
Border wall dispute
In June 2019, the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) determined that We Build the Wall (WBtW) had built its wall across federally owned land and had built and locked a gate across a road leading to Monument One, without required permits. The IBWC also accused WBtW of installing a gate for the wall on federal land in lieu of proper permits or authorizations, while illegally preventing access to waterways and a public monument. WBtW and the IBWC eventually resolved their dispute. As a result, the gate is kept open during the day and closed and locked at night.
References
External links
American Society of Civil Engineers - International Boundary Marker
National Register of Historic Places in Doña Ana County, New Mexico
Buildings and structures completed in 1848
Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks | International Boundary Marker No. 1, U.S. and Mexico | [
"Engineering"
] | 398 | [
"Civil engineering",
"Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks"
] |
59,877,676 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawyer%20Water%20Purification%20Plant | The Sawyer Water Purification Plant, formerly the South Water Purification Plant, is the first water filtration plant built in the City of Chicago. When completed in 1947, it was the largest such plant in the world.
History
The plant was under construction for many years, slowed by the Great Depression. Its construction was approved in 1930 and the plant began operation in 1947. Water is drawn from a crib in Lake Michigan that has an intake about 20–30 feet below the surface of the lake and is then drawn through a tunnel below the lake bed to the treatment plant, and then put through several steps to filter suspended particles and add chemicals including chlorine to disinfect the water. This system relies on pumps, not on gravity flow, to move the clean water.
Two main cribs are about 2.5 miles away from the shore. The 68th Street / Dunne cribs feed water to this filtration plant. This plant was the largest filtration plant in the world until Chicago completed its second filtration plant, the Central plant (now called the Jardine Water Purification Plant) was completed in 1964.
On September 19, 2016, the City of Chicago renamed the South Water Purification Plant to the Sawyer Water Purification Plant to honor the former Mayor Eugene Sawyer. The water filtration plant is located at 3300 E. Cheltenham Place on the South Side along the lake near Rainbow Beach Park.
Clean water supply for Chicago and nearby suburbs
This plant and the Jardine Water Purification Plant supply the water for the City of Chicago and many surrounding suburbs that purchase their drinking water from the City of Chicago, about 1 billion gallons a day.
The city of Chicago has voted for a major renovation of the filtration plant in 2020. The work is estimated at $74.5 million, and will include restoration of the roof of the 1941 building and a 1964 addition.
References
Water treatment facilities
Government of Chicago | Sawyer Water Purification Plant | [
"Chemistry"
] | 388 | [
"Water treatment",
"Water treatment facilities"
] |
59,877,914 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%20691 | NGC 691 is an unbarred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Aries. It is located at a distance of circa 120 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 691 is about 130,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on November 13, 1786.
NGC 691 features a multiple ring structure, with three rings recognised in the infrared, with diameters of 1.03, 1.67, and 2.79 arcminutes. When imaged in H-alpha, the galaxy appears patchy. The total star formation rate of the galaxy is estimated to be about 0.6 per year. One supernova has been observed in NGC 691, SN 2005W. It was discovered by Yoji Hirose in unfiltered CCD frames taken on Feb. 1.442 UT with a 0.35-m f/6.8 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector. The supernova was located 56" east and 1" south of the center of NGC 691 and at the time of the discovery had an apparent magnitude of 15.2. Spectrographic observations indicated it was a type Ia supernova about a week before maximum. The peak magnitude of the supernova was 14.3, on February 10.759.
NGC 691 is the foremost member of a galaxy group known as the NGC 691 group. Other members of the group include IC 163, NGC 678, NGC 680, NGC 694, IC 167, and NGC 697.
Gallery
References
External links
NGC 691 on SIMBAD
Unbarred spiral galaxies
Aries (constellation)
0691
01305
06793
Astronomical objects discovered in 1786
Discoveries by William Herschel | NGC 691 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 359 | [
"Aries (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
59,878,378 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human%20interactions%20with%20insects%20in%20southern%20Africa | Various cultures throughout Africa utilize insects for many things and have developed unique interactions with insects: as food sources, for sale or trade in markets, or for use in traditional practices and rituals, as ethnomedicine or as part of their traditional ecological knowledge. As food, also known as entomophagy, a variety of insects are collected as part of a protein rich source of nutrition for marginal communities. Entomophagy had been part of traditional culture throughout Africa, though this activity has been diminishing gradually with the influx of Western culture and market economies. Often the collection of insects for food has been the activity of children, both male and female.
Within Southern Africa different communities have established practices for regulating and maintaining their insect harvests. Some groups, through taboos, ritual, and hierarchical organizational structures acting as regulating bodies, have maintained their traditional practice for centuries. They monitor the development of certain caterpillar species' life cycles to ensure proper time frame for harvesting and sustainability.
Understanding the diversity of relationships to nature is a crucial aspect of fully grasping and contending with the challenges of modernity and ecology. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations report from January 2012, it has been recommended that insects be utilized both for human consumption as well as for animal feed. However, as the climate changes many agencies are reporting on the risk of the decline in insect populations within the larger ongoing phenomenon of biodiversity loss and how it may affect the world's ecology.
Southern Africa
Blouberg, Limpopo
Maize is a staple crop of Blouberg, Limpopo. Yet due to the processing methods of removing the germ and pericarp, maize is a poor source of protein which often requires supplementation. Within the Blouberg Region, Limpopo, there are some 30 species of insect which are considered edible, and of those, the caterpillar Hemijana variegata Rothschild (Lepidoptera: Eupterotidae) is considered a delicacy while being nutritionally sound. Depending on how it is prepared, the nutritional values of protein, carbohydrate, fat, and essential vitamins varies. According to B.A. Egan et al. (2014) the fortification of staple cereals with insects would positively affect the protein content of the community's diet, and should be promoted as a healthy alternative to beef.
Traditional preparation
Hemijana variegata Rothschild are sold in local markets in the village of Ga Manaka. In this market, the caterpillars are collected by locals in the surrounding forests near Blouberg Mountain and transported back for preparation. Local residents report it was important to wash them after collection. They would wash them three times and purge them, before boiling them in salty water for an hour. They are then sun dried until brittle and the hairs are "shaken off by 'winnowing' in a basket or bucket."
Nutrition
The Hemijana variegata has protein content that exceeds that of more common livestock such as cows or chickens when measured per gram. The energy, and protein content of the caterpillars which had been traditionally dried had been lower than that of oven based drying. The energy content of the caterpillars (552 kcal/100 g.) is greater than that of beef (112 to 115 kcal/100 g), goat meat (96.36 and 101.47 kcal/100 g), and chicken (144 kcal/100 g). The fat content is 20% which is higher than beef or chicken. The vitamin C content was measured at (14.15 mg/100 g.) compared to (30 mg/100 g) in peas and over (90 mg/100 g) in broccoli.
Venda, South Africa
Caterpillars such as Gonimbrasia belina, or mopane, are a staple protein source for the communities of the Northern Province of South Africa (formerly Venda). Caterpillars are one of the many insects that are traded in wide reaching markets (southern Zimbabwe, eastern Botswana and northern provinces of South Africa, formerly known as Transvaal); not only are caterpillars traded in this expansive market, but other species traded include: soldier termites (Macrotermes: Termitidae, Isoptera), green bugs (Encosternum: Tessaratomidae, Hemiptera) and flying termites (Isoptera). Within rural communities still practicing traditional diets, grasshoppers and mopane worms are considered vital in their subsistence economy and the most important insects for nutrition. The amount of caught insects per time spent trapping varies, depending on the level of rainfall predominately, but also different environmental conditions. Within rural communities grasshoppers and locusts are often trapped for personal consumption rather than to be sold within a market.
In the 1996 survey of the community upwards of 70% of rural households reported having consumed grasshoppers regularly, having an estimated daily intake of 14 grams. The practice of collecting grasshoppers for consumption is considered a common activity for young boys and girls, as well as older women, yet not for older men. Grasshoppers are a free source of nutritional food and as such are important for the sustenance of communities marginal to market economies; as much as 2350 tons of grasshoppers were estimated to be harvested over a period of eight months.
Language and description
Within the Venda language, Tshivenda, in general locusts and grasshoppers share a name, nzie. The stages of the insects life also are distinctly named: nymphs as vhulka, and the pre-adult stages: thathakubi or dengulamukumbi. Researchers had documented approximately 155 vernacular names for varieties of grasshoppers which varied based on the local communities queried, of which most of the respondents were children. Overall, the vernacular names represented 42 species of grasshoppers. There are vivid linguistic descriptors of many varied species of grasshopper, based on appearance, behaviors, habits, location found, or the sound made.
Medicinal uses
Grasshoppers, or bapu, are used for a variety of ailments, and different preparations have different medicinal properties according to the ethnomedicine of the communities studied. Some examples are: when bapu is fried, it is to be eaten as a treatment for young children who wet the bed; when bapu is dried and ground up and put in warm water it is used to treat nightmares; boiled bapu is for hyperactive children; ground and then burnt bapu mixed with petroleum jelly is applied to the fontanel of newborns to strengthen them; the ashes of roasted bapu is rubbed onto women's breasts to alleviate pain.
Beliefs
Some species of grasshopper are for various reasons thought of to be inedible or dangerous. Besides being inedible, there are beliefs associated with the consumption of certain grasshoppers, such as those that are attracted to fire, which may lead to madness or the loss of one's hearing. Losing one's sanity is a persistent fear associated with eating grasshoppers that live near one's house. Other such forbidden species are silivhindi and banzi (Pyrgomorphldae) which have a distinctly bad odor and are thought to be toxic to both humans and dogs. Within Zionist African Churches, many insects such as grasshoppers and locusts are thought of us unclean, and this translates into a stigma against eating those for fear of association.
Several species are believed to become a snake if certain practices are not followed. For instance, mutotombudzi (Acrida spp., Truxalis spp.) requires that you remove the antenna, or nzie-luvhele (Cyrtacanthracris fatarica) must be squashed in a specific manner. The folklore associated with nyammbeulwana is that it could cause one to lose their hair or blood if it were to land on your head. Because of the belief that tshikwandavhokopfu ("powder eater") often eats human and cow feces some do not eat it. Other species have foul tastes or are associated with snakes which often leads to their not being eaten.
Zambia
Bisa people
The Bisa people inhabit the Kopa area of Mpika district of northern Zambia (latitude, 11° 00'–13° 30' south; longitude, 29° 45'–32° 30' east). These people practice traditional subsistence farming, hunting and caterpillar collection, which is essential to their culture. K.J. Mbata, et al. (2002) conducted a household survey in 2000 to better understand their customs and knowledge concerning caterpillar harvesting. Upwards of 89.1% of respondents practiced caterpillar harvesting in the surrounding miombo woodlands. The two most well-known species for harvesting in this region of the eight said to live there were Gynanisa maja Strand (chipumi) and Gonimbrasia zambesina Walker (mumpa). Mostly due to their size, flavor, common lack of thorns or urticating hairs, and their market value, Gynanisa maja is the most popular. The Bisa people believe that the caterpillars have been with them since time immemorial, as gifts from god, and this respectful belief has helped them formulate sustainable traditional management systems.
Traditional ecological knowledge
The traditional ecological knowledge of the life cycles and harvesting practices have been taught through oral education and shared experiences over centuries, developed in interaction with their local environment. The Bisa identify caterpillar species in various ways, among them the sound that the caterpillars make while eating and on which plants they feed. They have an understanding of the life cycles of the harvested caterpillars, recognizing the stages: egg, larva, pupa, and then adult. Through early September to late October the caterpillars oviposit, and then harvesting is done during the rainy season between November and April. Taboos and specific seasonal management for harvest are some regulatory mechanisms practiced by the Bisa to teach proper traditional hunting behavior, to protect the maturation process and life cycle of the caterpillar, and to ensure the sustainability of the caterpillar and health of the ecosystem.
Traditional technologies protect the habitat of the caterpillars, such as the use of fire to prevent natural blazes from consuming the host trees.
Ritual and beliefs
The monitoring process of the Bisa people of the caterpillars are often reproduced and learned through ritual behavior, performed by members of the senior chief kopa royal establishment. These rituals act as a regulator for the harvesting of the caterpillar and involve many layers of the community. The village scouts will walk through the woodlands daily and will report the location of eggs within their chiefdom back to the senior chief of the chiefdom. In one such practiced ritual to thank the ancestral Bisa spirits for the edible caterpillars, the senior chief's assistant (chilukuta) places a white cloth in the shrine for the burial site of the senior chiefs (chaipinda). The white cloth is cut into two parts, half of it is to stay at the shrine while the other is cut into smaller pieces. Believed to bless the developing caterpillars, the smaller pieces are used by the chief's male grandchildren to mark the host plants.
As the eggs begin to hatch, the monitors will gather several to present to the chief who will convene a meeting of himself, his adviser and sub-chiefs, and his senior wife. The chief's wife (mukolo-wa-chalo or "mother-of-the-land"), will offer the young caterpillars to the ancestral Bisa spirits at the shrine (babenye) in a ritual known locally as Ukuposela. Once the caterpillars have begun reaching maturity and samples have been brought by monitors to the senior chief, another meeting is called and more caterpillars are offered up by the senior wife, who following the offering eats the caterpillars that were not offered. A third meeting is called to set up a harvesting date in which the wife does not participate, though representatives from buyers outside the chiefdom may be invited. In another meeting a price is set for caterpillar harvests, and no outside representative participates.
The Bisa people have established rules and taboos for harvesting, such as a stoppage directive issued by the senior chief. The signal for the beginning of harvesting generally is the beginning of November and the signal to stop given around mid-December. Other taboos and associated beliefs are: collecting caterpillars before or after the signals are believed to lead to those involved getting lost, its forbidden to roast them in an open fire or eviscerate them with a knife, noisy or sexual behavior is forbidden while harvesting, and consuming young caterpillars would make people go insane.
Further reading
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (01/2012) Expert consultation: "Assessing the Potential of Insects as Food and Feed in assuring Food Security." http://www.fao.org/3/an233e/an233e00.pdf
References
Ethnobiology
Insects in culture
Culture of South Africa
Culture of Zambia
Insects as food | Human interactions with insects in southern Africa | [
"Biology",
"Environmental_science"
] | 2,756 | [
"Environmental social science",
"Ethnobiology"
] |
59,879,020 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health%20survival%20paradox | The male-female health survival paradox, also known as the morbidity-mortality paradox or gender paradox, is the phenomenon in which female humans experience more medical conditions and disability during their lives, but live longer than males. The observation that females experience greater morbidity (diseases) but lower mortality (death) in comparison to males is paradoxical since it is expected that experiencing disease increases the likelihood of death. However, in this case, the part of the population that experiences more disease and disability is the one that lives longer.
Background and history
The male-female health survival paradox has been most reliably reported in literature and documented as far back as the 18th century in European historical records. Some of the last records of European men outliving women are from the Netherlands in 1860 and Italy in 1889. The earliest records of European women outliving men were from Sweden in 1751, Denmark in 1835, and both England and Wales in 1841. While women were documented to outlive men in Europe, data from 1887 through 1930 showed that females between ages 5 and 25 in Massachusetts disproportionately faced mortality due to infectious diseases. With improvements in infectious disease prevention, treatment, and eradication of Smallpox around the 1970s, mortality rates declined in both sexes. At this time, female life expectancy also peaked in the United States; females were expected to live eight years longer than males. Since the 1970s, the life expectancy gap between females and males has been on the decline in the United States and Western Europe.
Although more research needs to be completed, it is postulated that there is a "biopsychosocial" component which causes this paradox. In other words, women and men differ in biological, behavioral, and social factors which causes the male-female health survival paradox.
Biopsychosocial factors that have been hypothesized to cause this paradox include genetics, hormone differences, immunological differences, reproduction, chronic diseases, disability, physiological reserve, risk-related activities, illness perception, health reporting behavior, health care utilization, gender roles, and social assets and deficits.
Scholars relate the male-female health survival paradox to the concept of frailty, which is the vulnerability that the aging population has to adverse health outcomes. Such geriatric propensity to frailty is an emerging topic of research given new therapeutic interventions aimed at improving the health of the aging population, such as healthy nutrition, physical exercise, cognitive training, and multimodal interventions that encompass all of these components.
Influential factors
Risk Factors and Behaviors
Different rates of alcohol and tobacco usage by men and women contribute to the paradox in developed countries. More women abstain from alcohol for lifetime, drink less, and have less drinking problems in comparison to men. However, more women tend to have alcohol-related disorders and withdrawal symptoms due to differences in pharmacokinetics and sex hormones.
Similarly, a review on substance-use disorder (SUDs) observed sex/gender differences on the biology, epidemiology, and treatment of substance-use disorder. Women were generally afflicted with more severe adverse events, but prognosis after treatment between men and women did not differ. However, due to conflict of emerging SUDs findings, future studies are needed to confirm whether biological and environmental constituents impact gender/sex differences on substance-use disorder.
It has also been stated that while men experience smoking-related conditions more than women, women have more trouble maintaining cessation than men. However, a recent review showed mixed findings on smoking behavior, and that bio-psycho-social factors may be more impactful than gender differences. In addition, a higher proportion of men use alternative tobacco options to replace cigarettes, and gender-based comparisons may be skewed from failing to stratify randomization in treatment groups.
Diseases
Men are more likely to suffer from heart disease, cancer, and stroke more than women do. These diseases are the main cause of the gender gap in life expectancy.
Despite men having more fatal conditions such as ischemic heart disease, lung cancer, liver cirrhosis, traffic accidents, and suicide, women have more non-fatal acute and chronic conditions. The majority of the female survival advantage is accounted for by differences in mortality rates between men and women ages 50–70 due to differing rates of cardiovascular diseases. While women report more symptoms and experience higher incidence of musculoskeletal and autoimmune disease, men have earlier and higher rates of cardiovascular diseases, after adjusting the data for the gap in life expectancy. Other studies report women having higher rates of cardiovascular disease, while not accounting for women having longer life expectancy. A recent review found that women afflicted with coronary heart disease are generally older and have more cardiovascular risks than men with coronary heart disease. While men have nearly twice the incidence of coronary heart disease and related mortality, women experience more incidence at increasing age.
Women also have higher rates of autoimmune disorders than men; one hypothesis for this is that testosterone facilitates immunosuppression in men, decreasing the likelihood men create autoantibodies that can target their own bodies, leading to autoimmune disease.
Most countries report higher rates of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in women compared to men. However, the difference in CKD rates may be due to the longer life expectancy of women, as kidney function declines with age. Although more women are diagnosed with CKD, among individuals diagnosed with CKD who are not on dialysis treatment, the men exhibit greater mortality rates compared to women. Studies investigating sex differences in kidney disease have suggested that men lose kidney function faster than women. It is hypothesized that this may be due to the protective effects of estrogens and the harmful effects of testosterone on the kidneys, or due to lifestyle differences between men and women.
Biological factors
Proposed explanations for the paradox range from genetic, hormonal, and physiological processes unique to females and males.
Genetic factors
The female sex has two X chromosomes that can protect against expression of recessive genes and allows a female survival advantage. A research study conducted on flies indicated that the alleles that contribute to male inclusive fitness also harm female health, and thus contribute to the paradox.
Physiological factors
It is also a possibility that the female hormone, estrogen, contributes to the female survival advantage. In cutaneous melanoma, estrogen was evaluated to determine its effect on a steroid hormone-sensitive cancer. While no difference in survival was concluded between two genders due to limited data, women tend to have better prognosis due to the presence of estrogen receptor beta. However, this is a continued study that may be due to biological factors—such as immune response, inflammation, pharmacokinetics, or hormones—or from social factors—such as women tending to have more ultraviolet protection and frequent medical visits.
Although studies have shown the protective effects of estrogen on cardiovascular health (i.e. by lowering LDL and increasing HDL) and brain cell health, there are doubts about the role of hormones due to mixed results in hormone replacement therapy studies on elderly women. For instance, although lower levels of LDL may prevent atherosclerotic buildup which can lead to chronic heart disease, estrogen may overall elevate chronic heart disease in older women with advanced plaque buildup by causing thrombosis.
Women can store excess high-density lipoproteins, which most likely slows the progression of plaque growth. Interestingly, calcium metabolism may contribute to the female mortality advantage. After age 35, where the human skeleton grows to its maximum size, calcium buildup increases significantly due to constant release from a deteriorating skeleton, less exercise for calcium release via sweating, and continued dietary intake. Consequently, excess calcium deposits in soft tissues, causing stiffening of arteries and higher blood pressure, leading to cardiovascular disease. For women, however, calcium influx can halt or be reversed during pregnancy and lactation. Women can also release calcium via menstrual cycle until menopause.
Women additionally have lower mortality rates in high-mortality conditions like famine and epidemics. In such conditions, most of the advantage comes from differences in infant mortality rates.
Social factors
Another possible explanation of the paradox is a social expectation of the female sex role, making women more willing to seek medical help sooner. There is mixed evidence on the role of help-seeking and reporting behavior, with some studies reporting that women are more likely to seek and report medical treatment for all symptoms, while others report that women only tend to seek more treatment on malaise-type symptoms.
As child bearers, females face maternal mortality, which peaked between 1900 and the 1930s. At the time, aseptic technique was not widely practiced, including during child delivery, abortions, and associated surgical procedures. Obstetrics was also a poorly regarded medical specialty where practitioners were poorly trained, if at all. In the early 1930s, hospitals in the United States began establishing rigorous physician qualification and practice guidelines to ensure sufficiently trained obstetricians, application of aseptic technique, and safe and effective deliveries. Other medical advancements, including antibiotic use, blood transfusions, and improved medication management during pregnancy, also improved maternal mortality. Collectively, these improvements reduced maternal mortality by 71%. However, the significant decrease in maternal mortality during this period only accounted for 14% of the longevity difference between females and males.
Psychological factors
A study conducted in the United States (US) consisting of 9,000 participants determined that women have a 1.5 times greater risk of experiencing a mood disorder compared to men. Additionally, a 2006 study examining mental health in New Zealand found that lifetime rates for major depression are higher in women (20.3%) compared to men (11.4%). Not only do women experience a greater preponderance of depression compared to men, they also experience greater severity of symptoms. The symptoms that women experienced with greater severity included weight gain and increased appetite, greater interpersonal sensitivity, and reduced energy. Women also experience onset of depression at an earlier age, and experience more years of depression when compared to men.
Female survival advantage
Records of the female survival advantage can be traced back to the 18th century, but the phenomenon gained popularity and caught the eyes of researchers in the 19th century. Females outlive males for all age groups and every year for which reliable records exist. Specifically, in "contemporary industrialized countries", female survival is 1.5-2.0 times higher than that of males.
A female survival advantage is found in some, but not all species. Various explanations for this have been proposed but none are strongly supported. Most species studied for differences in morbidity and mortality between sexes show conditional sex differences in life span, with both male and females experiencing advantage depending on the species. In humans, females appear to have a consistent survival advantage. Females outlive males in 176 of 178 countries for which records are available, both at age 5 and at age 50. In a study in the UK, males scoring higher "femininity scores", when compared to their more stereotypical "masculine" male counterparts, had lower death rates from heart disease, suggesting that masculine behavior increases the risk of premature mortality.
The female survival advantage holds true among humans, but the same can not be said for baboons and birds. In a study conducted on Amboseli baboons, it was found that although females outlive their male counterparts, both sexes had either similar rates of age-related declines in health, or greater health declines in males compared to females. In another study focused on Eurasian Blackbirds found lower survival in females due to more passive phenotypes that increased predation susceptibility.
A significant biological factor that may contribute to the female survival advantage is the difference in sex chromosome composition in males and females. The male sex is biologically defined by having one Y sex chromosome, and is heterogametic, while females only have X chromosomes. Typically females have two X chromosomes, one active and one inactive, that can compensate one another for X chromosome gene mutations. In a longitudinal study following identical female twins and changes in X chromosome inactivation, skewed X chromosome inactivation patterns present at later stages of life suggested homologous sex chromosomes to benefit survival. Without multiple X chromosomes, males are more susceptible to X-linked diseases, or the effects of X chromosome mutations. These X-linked diseases include color blindness, hemophilia, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Male morbidity advantage
Although males experience greater mortality, they appear to have the advantage of lower morbidity. Females tend to report poorer health and more hospital visits than males. Females also have a greater tendency to develop psychological disorders compared to males. Females spend more years in good health than males; however, females spend more years in poor health than males as a proportion of their life expectancy. This implies that the male morbidity advantage is linked to the female survival advantage.
Potential bias
Data collected from a research study in Denmark indicated that the paradox is likely due, in part, to selection bias. Females have higher preferences for absenteeism. On average, they are absent from work for health reasons more often than males, including when they do not have objectively worse health.
It may also be a possibility that under-reporting and selective non-participation of health problems, and delaying medical attention and treatment may make it appear that males have less medical problems than females. Misperceptions, such as females being more protected from cardiovascular diseases, may contribute to the morbidity-mortality paradox; females tend to have less aggressive treatment regimens, shown by having lower diagnostic angiograms and interventional procedures when compared to males.
Researchers also suggest that because males have been shown to have an increased likelihood of suddenly dying, females may appear to have higher incidence of morbidity when surveyed in research studies; in other words, females tend to outlive males, and the females carry diseases that are counted as morbidity in studies while males die earlier from these morbidities and leave healthier male counterparts in the study, which makes it appear that they have lower morbidity than females. However, in a systematic review encompassing over 37,000 adults from developed and developing countries, this confounder appeared to be discredited since females experienced higher frailty index scores (used as a surrogate to measure morbidity) than males for any age group.
Statistics
See also
Health equity#Sex and gender in healthcare equity
Mental disorders and gender
Gender differences in suicide
Sex differences in medicine
Frailty syndrome
References
Sex differences in humans
Health paradoxes
Life expectancy
Social sciences | Health survival paradox | [
"Biology"
] | 3,004 | [
"Senescence",
"Life expectancy"
] |
59,880,047 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibernation%20%28spaceflight%29 | Hibernation of spacecraft is an operating mode used when regular operations are suspended for an extended period of time but restarting is expected (unlike termination). On long duration and deep space missions it saves power or other limited resources and extends mission life. The term is substantially similar to the hibernation mode used in computer power saving.
Rosetta, a mission to study comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P), was placed into hibernation for 31 months to conserve its limited resources when it ventured near the orbit of Jupiter while en route to its rendezvous.
The New Horizons mission entered hibernation mode many times on its way to Pluto and then again while en route to the Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth. Its hibernation mode provides some amount of health and status monitoring and occasional wake-ups to check and calibrate instruments.
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission, originally operated by the agency's astrophysics division for an infrared all-sky survey, was placed into hibernation in 2011 and then reawakened in 2013 to conduct an asteroid survey by the planetary science division.
References
Spaceflight | Hibernation (spaceflight) | [
"Astronomy"
] | 245 | [
"Spaceflight",
"Outer space"
] |
59,881,061 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20IP%20version%20numbers | Packets that hold Internet Protocol data carry a 4-bit IP version number as the first field of its header. Currently, only IPv4 and IPv6 packets are seen on the Internet, having IP version numbers 4 and 6, respectively.
IP version numbers
As the version number is carried in a 4-bit field, only numbers 0–15 can be assigned.
History
During the development of the first version of the Internet Protocol in the 1970s, the initial experimental versions 1 to 3 were not standardized. The first working version that was widely deployed was assigned version number 4.
A separate protocol based on reliable connections was developed and assigned version 5.
IP version 7 was chosen in 1988 by R. Ullmann as the next IP version because he incorrectly assumed that version 6 was in use for ST-II. However, ST-II had reused version 5 of the original ST protocol.
In the early 1990s, when it became apparent that IPv4 could not sustain routing in a growing Internet, several new Internet Protocols were proposed. The Internet Protocol that finally emerged was assigned version number 6, being the lowest free number greater than 4.
The PIP protocol and TUBA protocol used versions 8 and 9, following version 7 for TP/IX.
In 2004, an IPv9 protocol was developed in China using 256-bit addresses.
References
Internet Protocol
IPv4 protocol numbers. | List of IP version numbers | [
"Technology"
] | 277 | [
"Computing-related lists",
"Internet-related lists"
] |
56,504,697 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnePlus%206 | The OnePlus 6 is an Android smartphone made by OnePlus. It was unveiled on 2 May 2018 and went on sale on 21-22 May 2018.
History
In March 2018, it was announced that the phone would have a "notch", but that there would be an option to hide it. On 2 April 2018, it was confirmed that the premium edition of the OnePlus 6 would feature the Snapdragon 845 processor, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage.
OnePlus opened forums for the OnePlus 6 in April 2018.
One week after the Oneplus 6 went on sale, OnePlus acknowledged a software bug that caused the device to drop all audio when a phone call was switched to speakerphone. This was later resolved in a 5.1.6 software update.
In November 2021, OnePlus stopped supplying software updates to the operating system.
Specifications
Hardware
With an all-glass build different from its predecessors, the phone contains 6 or 8 GB of RAM, the Snapdragon 845 and a choice of 64, 128 or 256 GB of UFS 2.1 storage. It features a slightly larger (when compared to the OnePlus 5T) AMOLED 2280 x 1080 display with a cutout at the top for the front camera, sensors, earpiece, and notification LED. The OnePlus 6 uses 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5 as a cover glass and supports Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC.
The OnePlus 6 has two rear facing cameras. The primary one uses the Sony IMX 519 sensor with OIS while the secondary camera uses the Sony IMX 376K sensor for a bokeh effect in portrait mode.
The phone has been specified to be dust, splash, and water resistant; however, it has not been certified with an IP Code and OnePlus suggests against submerging the device. Water damage is not covered by the warranty.
The phone has an Alert slider on the right side with 3 notification profiles: Silent, Vibrate and Ring.
The phone has four colour variants: Mirror Black, Midnight Black, Silk White, and Amber Red.
Software
The OnePlus 6 launched with Android 8.1 installed and uses the OxygenOS interface. The option to take part in the Android Pie beta was available from launch. The first stable version of OxygenOS 9.0 based on Android Pie was released on September 21, 2018. Currently the OnePlus 6 is on Android 11 but can be upgraded to Android 14 via LineageOS.
OnePlus 6 (and 6T alike) has also attracted interests from the Linux communities and FOSS enthusiasts, which worked to port Linux distributions and develop mobile application (including multiple Desktop Environments) to the Phone, including Ubuntu Touch, postmarketOS, Mobian. and Sailfish OS
Network compatibility
The OnePlus 6 includes 2 variants for cellular networks worldwide.
References
External links
OnePlus mobile phones
Ubuntu Touch devices
Mobile phones introduced in 2018
Mobile phones with multiple rear cameras
Mobile phones with 4K video recording
Discontinued flagship smartphones | OnePlus 6 | [
"Technology"
] | 636 | [
"Discontinued flagship smartphones",
"Flagship smartphones"
] |
56,505,339 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersymmetric%20localization | Supersymmetric localization is a method to exactly compute correlation functions of supersymmetric operators in certain supersymmetric quantum field theories such as the partition function, supersymmetric Wilson loops, etc. The method can be seen as an extension of the Berline–Vergne– Atiyah– Bott formula (or the Duistermaat–Heckman formula) for equivariant integration to path integrals of certain supersymmetric quantum field theories. Although the method cannot be applied to general local operators, it does provide the full nonperturbative answer for the restricted class of supersymmetric operators. It is a powerful tool which is currently extensively used in the study of supersymmetric quantum field theory. The method, built on the previous works by E.Witten, in its modern form involves subjecting the theory to a nontrivial supergravity background, such that the fermionic symmetry preserved by the latter can be used to perform the localization computation, as in.
Applications range from the proof of the Seiberg–Witten theory, or the conjectures of Erickson–Semenoff–Zarembo and Drukker–Gross to checks of various dualities, and precision tests of the AdS/CFT correspondence.
References
Supersymmetric quantum field theory | Supersymmetric localization | [
"Physics"
] | 277 | [
"Supersymmetric quantum field theory",
"Quantum physics stubs",
"Quantum mechanics",
"Supersymmetry",
"Symmetry"
] |
56,505,701 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann%20Pearson | Ann Pearson is the PVK Professor of Arts and Sciences and Murray and Martha Ross Professor of Environmental Sciences at Harvard University and former chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Her research in the area of organic geochemistry is focused on applications of analytical chemistry, isotope geochemistry, and microbiology to biogeochemistry and Earth history.
Education
After growing up on the San Juan Islands, Pearson completed her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio in 1992. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador from 1993 to 1994. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography with a dissertation titled "Biogeochemical applications of compound-specific radiocarbon analysis" for which she received MIT's Rossby Award.
Career and research
Pearson has been on the Harvard faculty since 2001. She was the first woman in the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department to be appointed to a tenured position.
Pearson's recent work has focused on the global carbon and nitrogen cycles, paleo-temperatures, and paleo- records. In 2010, Pearson described her research as "...the 'you are what you eat' philosophy for microbes" which allows her to use their chemical and isotopic fingerprints to assess modern and ancient ecosystems. Notable research topics include investigations into chemoautotrophic processes using compound specific 14C-based methods, genomic evidence of sterol biosynthesis retained by Planctomycetota, and examinations of modern environments to reveal insights into environmental conditions in the past. In 2018, Pearson's research showed that increases in the size of eukaryotic phytoplankton increased the amount of carbon sequestered from the atmosphere.
Awards and honors
Fellow, Packard Foundation (2004)
Radcliffe Institute Fellow (2009-2010)
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Investigator (20132019)
Paul W. Gast lecture, Geochemical Society (2015)
Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor, University of Bristol (2018)
Fellow, American Geophysical Union (2019)
John Hayes Award, Geochemical Society (2019)
Joanne Simpson Medal, American Geophysical Union (2019)
Geochemistry Fellow, Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry (2022)
References
External links
Ann Pearson publications indexed by Google Scholar
American geochemists
Fellows of the American Geophysical Union
Oberlin College alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Harvard University faculty
Living people
1971 births
Women geochemists
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences | Ann Pearson | [
"Chemistry"
] | 517 | [
"Geochemists",
"Women geochemists",
"American geochemists"
] |
56,507,034 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rylie%20Green | Rylie Green is an Australian biomedical engineer who is a Professor at Imperial College London. She works on bioactive conducting polymers for applications in medical electronics.
Education
Green is Australian. She received her PhD in neural interfaces from the School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2008. She remained at UNSW for her postdoctoral studies, focussing on bioactive and cellular components for tissue engineering.
Research
Green's research focuses on developing new polymer materials for electronics, identifying biomaterials for regenerative medicine and bio-interfacial engineering for neuroprosthetics. She aims to extend the lifetimes of bioelectronic devices such as bionic eyes, robot limbs and brain–computer interface, so they are effective over a patient's life. In Green's research group they improve the mechanical properties of conductive polymers for implant applications, develop characterisation techniques and analyse neural tissue in vitro using techniques such as two photon intravital microscopy.
Green joined Imperial College London in 2016. In 2017 Green received a £1 million grant from EPSRC to explore new polymers for implants, which encourage interaction with surrounding nerves and prevent rejection in the body. She will focus on cochlear implants and new types of bionic eye implants. She is collaborating with Galvani Bioelectronics and Boston Scientific.
Public engagement
She spoke about Improving Implants at the Australian High Commission at the 2017 Pint of Science, and the Science Museum biology themed lates.
Recognition
Green was one of 16 applicants from 80 to be given a Fresh Science award in 2010, which recognises upcoming scientists throughout Australia. As a part of the award, she gave a presentation of her work on conductive bioplastics at Melbourne Museum.
Green has also received the Rudolf Cimdins Scholarship from the European Society for Biomaterials, which covers the registration costs for attendance at the society's annual conference.
In 2017, Green won a Suffrage Science Women in Science Award, which recognises scientific achievements and ability to inspire others.
References
External links
Article on bioelectrics featuring Dr Green
Living people
Australian women engineers
Australian bioengineers
Polymer scientists and engineers
Academics of Imperial College London
University of New South Wales alumni
21st-century Australian women engineers
Year of birth missing (living people) | Rylie Green | [
"Chemistry",
"Materials_science"
] | 471 | [
"Polymer scientists and engineers",
"Physical chemists",
"Polymer chemistry"
] |
56,507,383 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain%20Imaging%20Data%20Structure | The Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) is a standard for organizing, annotating, and describing data collected during neuroimaging experiments. It is based on a formalized file and directory structure and metadata files (based on JSON and TSV) with controlled vocabulary.
This standard has been adopted by a multitude of labs around the world as well as databases such as OpenNeuro, SchizConnect, Developing Human Connectome Project, and FCP-INDI, and is seeing uptake in an increasing number of studies.
While originally specified for MRI data, BIDS has been extended to several other imaging modalities such as MEG, EEG, and intracranial EEG (see also BIDS Extension Proposals).
History
The project is a community-driven effort. BIDS, originally OBIDS (Open Brain Imaging Data Structure), was initiated during an INCF sponsored data sharing working group meeting (January 2015) at Stanford University. It was subsequently spearheaded and maintained by Chris Gorgolewski. Since October 2019, the project is headed by a Steering Group and maintained by a separate team of maintainers, the Maintainers Group, according to a governance document that was approved of by the BIDS community in a vote. BIDS has advanced under the direction and effort of contributors, the community of researchers that appreciate the value of standardizing neuroimaging data to facilitate sharing and analysis.
BIDS Extension Proposals
BIDS can be extended in a backwards compatible way and is evolving over time. This is accomplished through BIDS Extension Proposals (BEPs), which are community-driven processes following agreed-upon guidelines. A full list of finalized BEPs and BEPs in progress can be found on the BIDS website
References
External links
Official BIDS website
HTML version of the BIDS specification
Source of the BIDS specification on GitHub
Data management
Magnetic resonance imaging
Electrophysiology
Neuroimaging | Brain Imaging Data Structure | [
"Chemistry",
"Technology"
] | 380 | [
"Data management",
"Nuclear magnetic resonance",
"Data",
"Magnetic resonance imaging"
] |
56,508,282 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte%20Servatius | Brigitte Irma Servatius (born 1954) is a mathematician specializing in matroids and structural rigidity. She is a professor of mathematics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and has been the editor-in-chief of the Pi Mu Epsilon Journal since 1999.
Education and career
Servatius is originally from Graz in Austria.
As a student at an all-girl gymnasium in Graz that specialized in language studies rather than mathematics, her interest in mathematics was sparked by her participation in a national mathematical olympiad,
and she went on to earn master's degrees in mathematics and physics at the University of Graz.
She became a high school mathematics and science teacher in Leibnitz. She moved to the US in 1981, to begin doctoral studies at Syracuse University. She completed her Ph.D. in 1987, and joined the Worcester Polytechnic Institute faculty in the same year. Her dissertation, Planar Rigidity, was supervised by Jack Graver.
Contributions
While still in Austria, Servatius began working on combinatorial group theory, and her first publication (appearing while she was a graduate student) is in that subject.
She switched to the theory of structural rigidity for her doctoral research,
and later became the author (with Jack Graver and Herman Servatius) of the book Combinatorial Rigidity (1993).
Another well-cited paper of hers in this area characterizes the planar Laman graphs, the minimally rigid graphs that can be embedded without crossings in the plane, as the graphs of pseudotriangulations, partitions of a plane region into subregions with three convex corners studied in computational geometry.
Servatius is also the co-editor of a book on matroid theory.
With Tomaž Pisanski she wrote the book Configurations from a Graphical Viewpoint (2013), on configurations of points and lines in the plane with the same number of points touching each two lines and the same number of lines touching each two points. Other topics in her research include graph duality and the triconnected components of infinite graphs.
Selected publications
References
External links
Home page
1954 births
Living people
Scientists from Graz
Austrian mathematicians
20th-century American mathematicians
21st-century American mathematicians
Group theorists
Graph theorists
University of Graz alumni
Syracuse University alumni
Worcester Polytechnic Institute faculty
20th-century American women mathematicians
21st-century American women mathematicians
Mathematicians from New York (state) | Brigitte Servatius | [
"Mathematics"
] | 474 | [
"Mathematical relations",
"Graph theory",
"Graph theorists"
] |
56,509,649 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refinement%20%28category%20theory%29 | In category theory and related fields of mathematics, a refinement is a construction that generalizes the operations of "interior enrichment", like bornologification or saturation of a locally convex space. A dual construction is called envelope.
Definition
Suppose is a category, an object in , and and two classes of morphisms in . The definition of a refinement of in the class by means of the class consists of two steps.
A morphism in is called an enrichment of the object in the class of morphisms by means of the class of morphisms , if , and for any morphism from the class there exists a unique morphism in such that .
An enrichment of the object in the class of morphisms by means of the class of morphisms is called a refinement of in by means of , if for any other enrichment (of in by means of ) there is a unique morphism in such that . The object is also called a refinement of in by means of .
Notations:
In a special case when is a class of all morphisms whose ranges belong to a given class of objects in it is convenient to replace with in the notations (and in the terms):
Similarly, if is a class of all morphisms whose ranges belong to a given class of objects in it is convenient to replace with in the notations (and in the terms):
For example, one can speak about a refinement of in the class of objects by means of the class of objects :
Examples
The bornologification of a locally convex space is a refinement of in the category of locally convex spaces by means of the subcategory of normed spaces:
The saturation of a pseudocomplete locally convex space is a refinement in the category of locally convex spaces by means of the subcategory of the Smith spaces:
See also
Envelope
Notes
References
Category theory
Duality theories
Functional analysis | Refinement (category theory) | [
"Mathematics"
] | 405 | [
"Functions and mappings",
"Mathematical structures",
"Functional analysis",
"Mathematical objects",
"Fields of abstract algebra",
"Category theory",
"Mathematical relations",
"Geometry",
"Duality theories"
] |
56,510,976 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M101%20OT2015-1 | M101 OT2015-1 (also known as PSN J14021678+5426205, iPTF13afz and AT 2015dl) is a contact binary that merged into a single star, in a process known as a luminous red nova (LRN). M101 OT2015-1 is an optical transient located in the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101). Luminous red novae are representatives of the sparsely populated class of exploding variables which is known since 1988 when such a star (M31-RV) appeared in the M31 galaxy.
Discovery
M101 OT2015-1 was discovered on February 10, 2015 by Dumitru Ciprian Vîntdevară from Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory of the Museum Vasile Pârvan in Bârlad, România. The transient is located in the outer reaches of a spiral arm of M101, at 489W and 324N of the measured position of the galaxy nucleus.
The transient was discovered with a Newtonian telescope 0,2 m + CCD camera ATIK 320E (on unfiltered) + EQ6 mount.
On February 13, 2015, the New Zealand astronomer Stu Parker, using a telescope located in Spain, confirmed that a new object was visible in the M101 galaxy. The new object was initially reported as a possible supernova, with the designation PSN J14021678+5426205. Later it was shown that the new star is not a supernova, and for a while its nature remained uncertain. One month after the discovery, on March 11, 2015, an Astronomer's Telegram was published where the new star was described as a luminous red nova, confirmed spectroscopically.
The final confirmation came a year later, on 2016 January 28, from observations carried out in several astronomic observatories in Russia.
Observations
Other information
Although the nature of the object is still debated, its resemblance with other transients from the same LRN family points towards a possible binary origin. The unusual location of the progenitor star in the Hertzsprung gap supports the hypothesis that the most massive component had expanded beyond its roche lobe, initiating the common envelope phase. The outbursts detected for M101-OT2015-1 suggest that this CE was ejected on dynamical timescales, likely leaving a surviving close binary pair. Further observations at infrared wavelengths will help to show the exact nature of the M101 OT2015-1 system.
References
Luminous red novae
Ursa Major | M101 OT2015-1 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 520 | [
"Ursa Major",
"Constellations"
] |
56,511,089 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braking%20test%20track | The braking test track is a fundamental element of the vehicle industry proving grounds, designed for conducting vehicle braking system operability and efficiency tests under various braking circumstances. Such types of tests are highly significant in regard to road safety. Testing is an indispensable step prior to manufacturing newly developed braking systems and enabling their utilization under real traffic circumstances. The effects of all factors other than human factors influencing the process of braking can be thoroughly tested in a testing environment designed to this end, i.e. on a braking test track.
Structure and characteristics
Several lanes enabling braking under different material characteristic conditions are necessary for testing as many of the circumstances that directly influence the braking effect as possible. Consequently, most of the traditional or so-called classic test tracks have several (5 to 8) differently paved braking lanes. Most test tracks attempt to provide surfaces with both higher and lower grip coefficients for testing and developing companies. Asphalt (with a higher and lower coefficient), basalt, ceramic and concrete are frequently used materials for surface paving. Certain test tracks even have chequer surfaces with alternative tiles of higher and lower coefficients, increasing the challenge for intelligent braking systems.
The number of settings provided by the available surfaces may be doubled by wetting them, for which mostly a 1–2 mm thick water coating is used. So-called aquaplaning lanes are also frequently provided for testers. The triggering of the phenomenon of aquaplaning, however, requires the provision of higher water levels. It is also important to provide for the collection of the water spilt onto the wettable braking surfaces, which is in most cases managed by using ditches.
In order to enable the testing of extreme braking situations, e.g. emergency braking from high speed, it is necessary for the lanes to be designed with a length of typically 150–250 m. Additionally acceleration lanes with the appropriate length are also required for reaching high speed, which enable even heavy-duty vehicles to reach 100 km/h. This way it becomes possible to test the braking systems of trucks and buses.
An adequate amount of data and test results are necessary to draw the conclusions, which can be achieved by repeated tests. In order to perform repeated tests fluently and safely it is necessary to design a route separated from the test (braking) zone that allows the test vehicle to return to the beginning of the acceleration lane quickly and safely.
Goal and utilization
The significance of braking system testing
The braking systems of vehicles, especially those of motorised vehicles play a highly important role in road safety. The activation of the braking systems decelerates and stops the vehicle (or keeps it in an immobile standing position, e.g. with the handbrake). Depending on the country, different national or occasionally international regulations apply to braking systems. The braking effect of an installed system depends on several factors, e.g. on the human factors (routine, health condition and mental state of the driver), technical factors (structure of the system, technical condition of the individual components), weather (e.g. wet, icy surfaces), and the condition and quality of the pavement. Braking test tracks enable the testing of such technical, meteorological and pavement factors.
Traditional tests
Most traditional test tracks are equipped with surfaces suitable for testing ABS, ATC, ESP systems as well as brakeforce intervention systems connected to all braking systems. At the same time such surfaces are also suitable for the testing of other active systems.
Automatic Emergency Braking System tests
The number of necessary vehicle industry tests has multiplied with the implementation of ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems). The combining of several functions has made the planned tests more complex too. Recently an increasing number of cars are equipped with emergency braking systems. Such systems need to be capable of sensing an obstacle which triggers the command that initiates the braking; at the same time, however, the appropriate intervention (braking) is also indispensable. Protocols for such tests, which all developers strive to comply with (Euro NCAP active safety system tests), already exist; these tests are conducted, however, under highly limited, well predefined circumstances. It is practical to carry out such tests on several different surfaces.
Platooning tests
Platooning tests, i.e. testing vehicles advancing in convoy pose a further challenge. A typical situation to be tested is when the first vehicle produces a signal for intervention (which could even be an intervention based on sensing), and then transmits it to the following vehicles, which need to receive and process the signal with the least possible latency, and initiate the necessary intervention.
Other tests
It is not unusual to use a braking test track for testing the efficiency of the braking system of a vehicle crossing several different lanes angularly.
Braking test tracks on existing proving grounds
Most proving grounds in Europe have braking test tracks. The most well-known examples are the Boxberg Proving Ground constructed by Bosch (Germany), Automotive Testing Papenburg GmbH constructed by Daimler (Germany), Applus Idiada (Spain), Aldenhoven Testing Center (Germany). The Zalaegerszeg Test Track currently under construction in Hungary will also feature a braking test track.
Boxberg Proving Ground, Boxberg, Germany
The braking test track of the Boxberg Proving Ground provides testing opportunities under various grip conditions on its seven lanes differing in quality and grip and its track sections equipped with track wetting functions. The surface of the braking test track is partially shared with one of the acceleration lanes of the dynamic platform.
Available lanes: chequered lane, asphalt, ceramic, basalt (polished), concrete, aquaplaning lane, basalt concrete.
Automotive Testing Papenburg GmbH, Papenburg, Germany
The 300 m long braking test track of the Papenburg Test Ground provides testing opportunities on eight lanes differing in quality and grip, which can be wetted as preferred; furthermore which are connected through a 280 long and 30 m wide acceleration lane to the oval platform, thus enabling acceleration to higher speeds. The braking test track is closed with a 150 m long asphalt safety surface.
Available lanes: chequered lane, asphalt (100 m aquaplaning lane), mixed basalt & asphalt, basalt (polished), asphalt, concrete, “blue asphalt”.
Aldenhoven Testing Center, Aldenhoven, Germany
The length of the braking test track at the Aldenhoven Testing Center is 150 m, which contains an asphalt and a ceramic pavement lane. Both lanes are 4 m wide and may be wetted as preferred. The braking test lane is surrounded on both sides by a safety zone. A 200 m access acceleration lane is also part of the braking test track.
Applus Idiada, Spain, Tarragona
The braking test track at Applus Idiada is divided into two separate zones.
Zone 1 may be used only by one a vehicle at a time. The surface used for the braking tests is 250 m long and has five lanes with different kinds of pavement. The lanes may be wetted as preferred. The braking test track is closed with a safety area.
Lanes: concrete, basalt, asphalt, ceramic, aquaplaning lane
Zone 2 may be used by two vehicles simultaneously, as there is a dividing area between the two lanes used for braking tests. Both lanes are 250 m long and 5 m wide and are paved with asphalt; one of them, however, is not wettable.
Zala ZONE Vehicle Industry Test Track, Zalaegerszeg, Hungary
The braking test track under construction at the Zala ZONE Vehicle Industry Test Track is designed for testing ABS, ATC and ESP systems; it has six special, differently paved and lanes, which can be wetted separately by the inbuilt wetting and draining system. Its 700 m acceleration lane and 200 m long braking surface enables the testing of longer combination vehicles as well.
References
Road transport
Vehicle technology
Road test tracks
Vehicle industry
Automotive industry | Braking test track | [
"Engineering"
] | 1,609 | [
"Vehicle technology",
"Mechanical engineering by discipline"
] |
56,511,240 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-marginal%20Metropolis%E2%80%93Hastings%20algorithm | In computational statistics, the pseudo-marginal Metropolis–Hastings algorithm is a Monte Carlo method to sample from a probability distribution. It is an instance of the popular Metropolis–Hastings algorithm that extends its use to cases where the target density is not available analytically. It relies on the fact that the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm can still sample from the correct target distribution if the target density in the acceptance ratio is replaced by an estimate. It is especially popular in Bayesian statistics, where it is applied if the likelihood function is not tractable (see example below).
Algorithm description
The aim is to simulate from some probability density function . The algorithm follows the same steps as the standard Metropolis–Hastings algorithm except that the evaluation of the target density is replaced by a non-negative and unbiased estimate. For comparison, the main steps of a Metropolis–Hastings algorithm are outlined below.
Metropolis–Hastings algorithm
Given a current state the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm proposes a new state according to some density . The algorithm then sets with probability
otherwise the old state is kept, that is, .
Pseudo-marginal Metropolis–Hastings algorithm
If the density is not available analytically the above algorithm cannot be employed. The pseudo-marginal Metropolis–Hastings algorithm in contrast only assumes the existence of an unbiased estimator , i.e. the estimator must satisfy the equation Now, given and the respective estimate the algorithm proposes a new state according to some density . Next, compute an estimate and set with probability
otherwise the old state is kept, that is, .
Application to Bayesian statistics
In Bayesian statistics the target of inference is the posterior distribution
where denotes the likelihood function, is the prior and is the prior predictive distribution.
Since there is often no analytic expression of this quantity, one often relies on Monte Carlo methods to sample from the distribution instead. Monte Carlo methods often need the likelihood to be accessible for every parameter value . In some cases, however, the likelihood does not have an analytic expression. An example of such a case is outlined below.
Example: Latent variable model
Consider a model consisting of i.i.d. latent real-valued random variables with and suppose one can only observe these variables through some additional noise for some conditional density . (This could be due to measurement error, for instance.) We are interested in Bayesian analysis of this model based on some observed data . Therefore, we introduce some prior distribution on the parameter. In order to compute the posterior distribution
we need to find the likelihood function . The likelihood contribution of any observed data point is then
and the joint likelihood of the observed data is
If the integral on the right-hand side is not analytically available, importance sampling can be used to estimate the likelihood. Introduce an auxiliary distribution such that for all then
is an unbiased estimator of and the joint likelihood can be estimated unbiasedly by
Extensions
Pseudo-marginal Metropolis-Hastings can be seen as a special case of so-called particle marginal Metropolis-Hastings algorithms. In the case of the latter, unbiased estimators of densities relating to static parameters in state-space models may be obtained using a particle filter. While the algorithm enables inference on both the joint space of static parameters and latent variables, when interest is only in the static parameters the algorithm is equivalent to a pseudo-marginal algorithm.
References
Monte Carlo methods
Statistical algorithms | Pseudo-marginal Metropolis–Hastings algorithm | [
"Physics"
] | 681 | [
"Monte Carlo methods",
"Computational physics"
] |
56,512,633 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misliya%20Cave | Misliya Cave (), also known as the "Brotzen Cave" after Fritz Brotzen, who first described it in 1927, is a collapsed cave at Mount Carmel, Israel, containing archaeological layers from the Lower Paleolithic and Middle Paleolithic periods. The site is significant in paleoanthropology for the discovery of what were from 2018 to 2019 considered to be the earliest known remains attributed to Homo sapiens outside Africa, dated to 185,000 years ago. Since the time of its discovery in 2011, Jebel Faya, in the United Arab Emirates, had been considered to be the oldest settlement of anatomically-modern humans outside Africa, with its deepest assemblage being dated to 125,000 years ago.
Excavations
Excavations by teams of University of Haifa and University of Tel Aviv were conducted in the 2000/1 season, yielding finds dated to between 300,000 and 150,000 years ago.
Misliya-1 fossil
Of special interest is the Misliya-1 fossil, an upper jawbone discovered in 2002, and at first dated to "possibly 150,000 years ago" and classified as "early modern Homo sapiens" (EMHS). In January 2018, the date of the fossil has been revised to between 177,000 and 194,000 years ago (95% CI). This qualifies Misliya-1 as one of the oldest known fossil of H. sapiens, of comparable age to the Omo remains (as well as those of Herto, identified as "archaic Homo sapiens", or Homo sapiens idaltu), and the second oldest modern humans ever found outside of Africa, the oldest being the skull Apidima 1 from the south western Peloponnese dated to roughly 210,000 years ago.
See also
Anatomically modern humans
List of human evolution fossils
Northern Dispersal
Recent African origin of modern humans
References
External links
Mina Weinstein-Evron et al.: Introducing Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel: A new continuous Lower/Middle Paleolithic sequence in the Levant. In: Eurasian Prehistory. Band 1, Nr. 1, 2003, S. 31–55.
Mina Weinstein-Evron et al.: A Window into Early Middle Paleolithic Human Occupational Layers: Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. In: Paleo Anthropology. 2012: 202−228, doi:10.4207/PA.2012.ART75
Hélène Valladas, Norbert Mercier, Israel Hershkovitz et al.: Dating the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Levant: A view from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. In: Journal of Human Evolution. Band 65, Nr. 5, 2013, S. 585–593, doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.07.005
Caves of Israel
Prehistoric sites in Israel
Recent African origin of modern humans
Paleoanthropological sites
Mount Carmel | Misliya Cave | [
"Biology"
] | 617 | [
"Biological hypotheses",
"Recent African origin of modern humans"
] |
56,513,506 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie%20M.%20Hicks | Leslie Hicks is an American associate professor of analytical chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her work primarily focuses on the study of proteomics and protein post-translational modifications using mass spectrometry, and identifying biologically active peptides in plants.
Career
Hicks earned her bachelor's degree at Marshall University in 2001, and went on to earn her doctorate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2005. She was an Assistant Member and Principal Investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center from 2006 to 2013, and an adjunct professor in the Department of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis before beginning her current position as a professor at UNC. She was named Sherman Fairchild Foundation Chancellor’s Science Scholars Term Associate Professor in 2022.
Research
Hicks' research focuses largely on the development and implementation of mass spectrometric methods for protein identification and characterization. Recent work in the Hicks Lab has focused primarily on two areas. The first is the study of post-translational modifications and their role in regulation and development. The second involves a novel analytical pipeline for the discovery and characterization of antimicrobial peptides.
Hicks' research in post-translational modifications typically employs bottom-up proteomics using label-free quantification. Much of this research involves the model organism C. reinhardtii, an important organism in biofuel research due to its tendency to accumulate triacylglycerols. The Hicks Lab has studied the phosphoproteome of C. reinhardtii in order to examine underlying biological processes. Work has also been done to understand cell regulatory pathways, especially the algal analog of the mammalian TOR pathway. To a similar end, Hicks' group has extended its work to examine how the reversible oxidation of thiols plays a role in signaling and effector-triggered immunity.
The increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance has produced a need for novel antimicrobial agents. The Hicks Lab has investigated antimicrobial peptides as a potential source for new antibiotics. Recent work has involved the development of a comprehensive analytical approach using LC-MS for the identification of novel antimicrobial peptides from botanical, fungal, and bacterial sources.
Awards and honors
Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award, Iota Sigma Pi, 2019
Marshall University College of Science Distinguished Alumni Award, 2019
Eli Lilly Young Investigator Award in Analytical Chemistry, 2018
US HUPO Robert J. Cotter New Investigator Award, 2018
NSF CAREER Award, 2015
Arthur C. Neish Young Investigator Award, 2014
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2002-2005
References
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
Marshall University alumni
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni
Analytical chemists
Washington University in St. Louis faculty | Leslie M. Hicks | [
"Chemistry"
] | 564 | [
"Analytical chemists"
] |
56,513,604 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark%20H.%20Schoenfisch | Mark H. Schoenfisch ( ) is an American analytical chemist. He is the Peter A. Ornstein Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is jointly appointed with the institution's Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy. His research interests include analytical sensors, biomaterials, and the development of macromolecular nitric oxide release scaffolds as novel therapeutics. Intellectual property originating from his research group is the basis of technology being commercialized by Novan, Diabetic Health, and Vast Therapeutics located in the Research Triangle Park.
Early life and education
Mark H. Schoenfisch was born in Elgin, Illinois. He attended William Fremd High School in Palatine, Illinois (class of 1988) and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1992 with a B.A. in Chemistry and Germanic Languages & Literature. Schoenfisch went on to receive his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Arizona in 1997.
Career
In 1998, Schoenfisch worked as a NIH Postdoctoral Fellow under the Department of Chemistry at the University of Michigan. He moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and began his independent research career as an Assistant Professor of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005, and Full Professor in 2009. He was appointed as Peter A. Ornstein Distinguished Professor in 2018.
Research
The Schoenfisch group works at the interface analytical chemistry, materials science, biomedical engineering, and pharmacology. Research within the Schoenfisch group is currently focused on four main areas:
Designing macromolecular nitric oxide release vehicles as novel therapeutics for treating disease
Improving the analytical performance of implantable continuous glucose monitoring devices for diabetes management
Designing microfluidic nitric oxide (NO) sensors for real-time detection of NO in biological media
Developing superhydrophobic interfaces for mold prevention and remediation
Awards and honors
In 1998, Schoenfisch received the National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship. He received the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh Young Investigator Award in 2001, the Eli Lilly and Company Young Investigator Award in 2002, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2004 and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Young Observer Award in 2005. Schoenfisch was recognized as a prominent professor in 2007 when he received the John L. Sanders Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Service. In 2015, he received both the Chapman Family Teaching Award for Distinguished Teaching of Undergraduates as well as the Institute for the Arts and Humanities Faculty Fellowship. In 2018, he received UNC's Office of Commercialization and Economic Development Inventor of the Year Award.
Commercialization interests
Schoenfisch is a cofounder of Novan, Inc. (2006). The public pharmaceutical company focuses primarily on the development of nitric oxide release-based therapies for dermatological indications. One lead product is an anti-acne drug, which has completed Phase 3 clinical trial. At least three other drugs are being developed, including topical anti-virals for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum (Phase 3) and external genital warts caused by the human papillomavirus (Phase 2), and a topical for the treatment of onychomycosis (Phase 2).
Schoenfisch is also a cofounder of KnowBIO, LLC and Vast Therapeutics, Inc., 2017. Vast focuses on the development of water-soluble nitric oxide-releasing biopolymers for treating chronic respiratory infections.
References
External links
Schoenfisch Lab
Mark Schoenfisch at UNC
Mark Schoenfisch Publications and Citations
Novan
Vast Therapeutics
Analytical chemists
21st-century American chemists
People from Elgin, Illinois
University of Kansas alumni
University of Arizona alumni
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people) | Mark H. Schoenfisch | [
"Chemistry"
] | 812 | [
"Analytical chemists"
] |
56,513,683 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John%20Michael%20Ramsey | John Michael Ramsey is an American analytical chemist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently holds the position of Minnie N. Goldby Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. His current research with the university focuses on microscale and nanoscale devices such as microchip electrospray, microscale Ion trap mass spectrometers, and microfluidic point of care devices. He is ranked #2 in the "Giants of Nano" field on The Analytical Scientist Power List.
Career
Early research
Michael Ramsey attended Bowling Green State University for his undergraduate studies where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with dual minors in Physics and Mathematics in June 1974.
He then went on to obtain his Doctor of Philosophy in Analytical chemistry from Indiana University Bloomington in January 1979. Dr. Ramsey conducted his research under the direction of Gary M. Hieftje from 1974 to 1979 culminating in his published dissertation "New Approaches for the Measurement of Subnanosecond Chemical Phenomena" .
Current research
The Ramsey Group at the University of Chapel Hill is interested in utilizing micro- and nano fabrication strategies to create devices that facilitate people's ability to gather chemical and biochemical information. Their motivations for fabricating devices include clinical diagnostics, high-throughput biochemical experimentation, understanding of transport mechanisms in nanoscale-confined spaces, and development of portable mass spectrometers operating at high-pressures (>1 Torr).
Applications for the devices that they develop include drug discovery, health care, environmental monitoring, chemical process control, and high-throughput laboratory analysis and basic research.
The four main areas of active research in the Ramsey group include:
Microchip electrospray
Microfluidic point of care
Microscale Ion Trap MS
Nanofluidics
Industry
He is a founding scientist and current director of 908 Devices incorporated, a company which focuses on building handheld mass spectrometry devices for applications in laboratory analysis, safety and security, as well as for use in the life sciences. In 2017 908 Devices Inc. received the Federal Laboratory Consortium Excellence in Technology Transfer Award. The company is known for several products, including the zipchip ™ separations platform for quick and high quality separation and mass spectrometry analysis of biological samples and the M908 ™ handheld High Pressure Mass Spectrometry tool for analysis of chemical warfare agents. Dr. Ramsey is also a founding scientist and former scientific advisory board member of Caliper Technologies incorporated, later renamed Caliper Life Sciences, a company that commercializes microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip technologies. Caliper Life Sciences was acquired by PerkinElmer in 2011 for $650M.
Between 1979 and 2004, Ramsey worked as a Eugene P. Wigner Fellow, research associate, and eventually a group leader for Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Awards/memberships
Awards that Ramsey has received include the Ralph N. Adams Award in Bioanalytical Chemistry (2013), the CASSS Award for Outstanding Achievements in Separation Science (2012), the American Chemical Society Award in Chromatography (2007), the Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award (2006), the ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Chemical Instrumentation (2003), the Battelle Distinguished Inventor Award (2003), and the Frederick Conference Capillary Electrophoresis Award (2000).
Ramsey holds professional memberships with National Academy of Engineering, the American Chemical Society, and the Analytical Division of the American Chemical Society.
He has 108 issues patents, 2 allowed patents, and 20 pending patents.
References
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Analytical chemists
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
Bowling Green State University alumni
Indiana University Bloomington alumni
21st-century American chemists | John Michael Ramsey | [
"Chemistry"
] | 758 | [
"Analytical chemists"
] |
56,515,003 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red%20fluorescent%20protein | Red fluorescent protein (RFP) is a protein which acts as a fluorophore, fluorescing red-orange when excited. The original variant occurs naturally in the coral genus Discosoma, and is named DsRed. Several new variants have been developed using directed mutagenesis which fluoresce orange, red, and far-red.
Characteristics and Properties
Like GFP and other fluorescent proteins, RFP is a barrel-shaped protein made primarily out of β-sheet motifs; this type of protein fold is commonly known as a β-barrel.
The mass of RFP is approximately 25.9 kDa. Its excitation maximum is 558 nm, and its emission maximum is 583 nm.
Applications
RFP is frequently used in molecular biology research as a fluorescent marker, for a variety of purposes. DsRed has been shown to be more suitable for optical imaging approaches than EGFP.
Issues with fluorescent proteins include the length of time between protein synthesis and expression of fluorescence. DsRed has a maturation time of around 24 hours, which renders it unsuited for experiments that take place over a shorter time frame. Additionally, DsRed exists in a tetrameric form, which can affect the function of proteins to which it is attached. Genetic engineering has improved the utility of RFP by increasing the speed of fluorescence development and creating monomeric variants. Improved variants of RFP include the mFruits variants (mCherry, mOrange, mRaspberry), mKO, TagRFP, mKate, mRuby, FusionRed, mScarlet and DsRed-Express.
Other Fluorescent Proteins
The first fluorescent protein to be discovered, green fluorescent protein (GFP), has been adapted to identify and develop fluorescent markers in other colors. Variants such as yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) and cyan fluorescent protein (CFP) were discovered in Anthozoa.
See Also
Cyan fluorescent protein (CFP)
Green fluorescent protein (GFP)
Yellow fluorescent protein (YFP)
References
External links
DsRed on FPBase
Fluorescent proteins | Red fluorescent protein | [
"Chemistry",
"Biology"
] | 429 | [
"Biochemistry methods",
"Bioluminescence",
"Fluorescent proteins"
] |
56,515,952 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptoteuthis | Cryptoteuthis brevibracchiata, the short-arm flapjack octopod, is a deepwater species of octopod. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Cryptoteuthis one of the cirrate octopuses of the family Grimpoteuthidae, the umbrella octopuses. It is known from a single specimen which was collected in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. It has characteristics which are shared with two other genera, Opisthoteuthis and Grimpoteuthis, but is sufficiently distinctive from either of these to warrant the erection of a new genus.
Description
Cryptoteuthis brevibracchiata is a bell-shaped octopus with a semi-gelatinous, semi-transparent body, except for the dark tips of the oral web and the tips of the fins. The fins are small and round, and their length is equal to half the width of the head. It has short arms, each with a single row of small, broad suckers and with a double row of cirri which are of moderate length, with each cirrus just longer than the diameter of the suckers. The longest arm has 48 suckers and the web is around half the length of the arms. The eyes are laterally positioned and the optic nerve passes through the white body in a single bundle. There are no posterior salivary glands, radula or ink sac. The digestive gland is entire. It has a simple U-shaped shell. The gills have 7 primary lamellae. The mantle length 35 mm and the total length is 121mm.
Distribution and habitat
Cryptoteuthis brevibracchiata was described from a single specimen, an immature female, collected in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean near the Porcupine Seabight at 49°54 N, 12°21 W from a depth of between 2,274 and 2,300m, south west of Ireland. The habitat is unknown but this species is unlikely to be demersal and it shows adaptations which suggest that it may be a benthic species which a preference for soft substrates, like some related taxa, such as Grimpoteuthis.
References
Octopuses
Cephalopod genera
Monotypic mollusc genera
Species known from a single specimen
Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean | Cryptoteuthis | [
"Biology"
] | 471 | [
"Individual organisms",
"Species known from a single specimen"
] |
67,771,828 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HL156A | HL156A is a derivative of metformin and a potent oxidative phosphorylation inhibitor and AMP-activated protein kinase activating biguanide. Certain types of cancer cells requires oxidative phosphorylation to survive. By targeting it, HL156A might help in improving anticancer therapy. It is more potent than acadesine or metformin at activating AMP-activated protein kinase. It is synthesized by Hanall Biopharma.
Medical uses
It is in phase 1 trial in patients with advanced solid tumor and lymphoma.
Pharmacology
Apart from AMP-activated protein kinase activation, it also inhibits expression and activation of insulin-like growth factor-1, protein kinase B, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and extracellular signal-regulated kinases.
Research
It is researched in multiple conditions like liver and renal fibrosis, cancer and drug resistance in cancer. HL176OUT04, a drug with similar pharmacology, has been also developed.
See also
Phenformin
References
1-Pyrrolidinyl compounds
Guanidines
Trifluoromethyl ethers | HL156A | [
"Chemistry"
] | 249 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Guanidines",
"Functional groups",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Pharmacology stubs"
] |
67,771,881 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concretene | Concretene is a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete that delivers savings on cost and CO2 emissions. The formulation has been developed by Nationwide Engineering Research & Development (NERD) in collaboration with The University of Manchester's Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC).
Laboratory tests and real-world projects have shown that Concretene offers significant benefits in compressive, tensile and flexural strength, as well as faster curing times and reduced permeability to water and salts. This enables comparable or greater performance to be achieved in concrete design mixes while using less cement.
Concretene is added at the batching plant, like any other admixture, meaning no additional training or equipment is required. The resulting mixture is poured like any other concrete and the admixture can be used with >99% of existing concretes.
Background
After water, concrete is the most widely used substance on Earth but it has a very high carbon footprint, which gives the construction sector a problem amid pressure for greater sustainability in the industry.
Concrete typically comprises sand, aggregate, water and cement and it is the cement part of the concrete that has the largest single CO2 emission impact.
Approximately 14 billion m3 of concrete is poured globally each year, this equates to more than 32 billion tonnes or 1,070 tonnes per second. If concrete were a country, it would be the world's third biggest CO2 polluter behind China and the US. At the root of this problem is concrete's reliance on cement. To keep up with this huge global demand, cement production is currently at around 150 tonnes per second. As a result, the global cement industry already accounts for around 8% of global CO2 emissions.
In 2021, worldwide emissions from making cement hit nearly 2.9 billion tonnes of CO2. This is twice the level recorded in 2002. Furthermore, the amount of pollution emitted per tonne – known as its 'carbon intensity' – has also increased in recent years.
History
In 2019, Nationwide Engineering began working alongside scientists and engineers from the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), as well as academics Dr Andrew Foster and Dr Lee Cunningham from the University of Manchester's Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering. Together found a way to significantly improve the performance of concrete by adding a graphene formulation into the hydration process. Performance increases above normal concrete were demonstrated in laboratory tests with the addition of Concretene, allowing the potential for cement content to be significantly reduced.
In April 2021, the world's first pour of a graphene-enhanced concrete engineered for sustainability took place at site for the Southern Quarter gym in Amesbury, Wiltshire. Subsequently, in September 2021, a second pour took place at the GEIC, with a new parking/loading bay being installed alongside the facility.
Manchester's Mayfield Depot was the site for the next large-scale project in October 2021 – the first use of Concretene on a suspended floor as part of the Escape to Freight Island development. The deck has been used for ice-skating, roller-skating and as a fanzone for watching Six Nations rugby.
In December 2022, NERD announced funding of £8m from venture capital firm Local Globe for a development programme for Concretene towards commercial roll-out to the construction industry.
Properties
Liquid concrete sets into its solid form through chemical reactions known as hydration and gelation, where the water and cement in the mixture react to form a paste that cures and hardens over time.
Graphene makes a difference by acting as a mechanical support with a very high surface area for the initial hydration reaction, leading to better bonding at microscopic scale and giving the finished product improved strength, durability and corrosion resistance.
Crucially, only very low dosages of the material, in some cases as little as 0.01%, are required to deliver substantial performance gains. This means Concretene is also commercially viable with wholesale costs expected to be in-line with existing additives already used in the concrete industry.
See also
Concrete
Graphene
References
External links
Concrete
Graphene
Building materials | Concretene | [
"Physics",
"Engineering"
] | 830 | [
"Structural engineering",
"Building engineering",
"Construction",
"Materials",
"Building materials",
"Concrete",
"Matter",
"Architecture"
] |
67,771,956 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC%204245 | NGC 4245 is a barred lenticular galaxy with a ring located in the constellation Coma Berenices. It was discovered on March 13, 1785, by the astronomer William Herschel. It is a member of the Coma I Group.
References
External links
Coma Berenices
4245
Barred lenticular galaxies
Ring galaxies
Coma I Group
07328
39437 | NGC 4245 | [
"Astronomy"
] | 73 | [
"Coma Berenices",
"Constellations"
] |
67,773,743 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel%20Foster%20Observatory | The , or Manuel Foster Observatory, is an astronomical observatory constructed on Cerro San Cristóbal near Santiago, Chile in 1903. This site was originally known as the D. O. Mills Observatory after the philanthropist Darius Ogden Mills. It was built as an offshoot of the Lick Observatory to observe stars in the southern hemisphere, and, under the direction of the American astronomer W. W. Campbell, was used in an extensive project to determine the apex of the Sun's motion through space.
The initial funding for the project financed operations for a two year period. Because Campbell had been seriously injured, the expedition was headed up by his assistant, William H. Wright. After setting up the telescope and the observation dome, the instrument quality was found to be satisfactory and operations began late in 1903. A total of 800 spectrograms had been successfully collected by October 1905. Heber D. Curtis took over operations in March 1906, and new financing from Mills allowed improvements to the observatory. Using the data collected from this observatory, Campbell completed his study on the motion of the Sun in 1926. With added funding, operations continued at the observatory until 1928, when it was purchased by Chilean lawyer Manuel Foster Recabarren for the Universidad Católica de Chile and transferred to their control.
The observatory is located in the Santiago Metropolitan Park and became a national monument in 2010. The main telescope is a cassegrain reflector with a aperture and an equatorial mount. This instrument is housed inside a rotating dome.
History
In 1897, the astronomer William Wallace Campbell, assisted by William H. Wright, began a program of measuring the radial velocity of all stars in the northern hemisphere having an apparent visual magnitude of 5.51 or brighter. This task was facilitated by the newly installed Mills spectrograph, which was attached to the telescope at the Lick Observatory. This instrument was specifically designed for photographing stellar spectra, and was made possible by a grant from the banker Darius O. Mills. It saw first use in May 1895 and proved highly successful, improving accuracy by an order of magnitude over previous instruments. The design included three prisms and an iron arc comparison system. However, there were flexure and light loss issues that limited its capabilities. By 1903, an improved design allowed measurements of stars at fainter magnitudes.
In 1894 Campbell first recognized the need for similar radial velocity measurements of stars in the Southern Hemisphere. This would allow a more complete investigation of the Solar System's motion with respect to the neighboring stars. The director of the Lick observatory, James Edward Keeler, died on August 12, 1900, and Campbell was named to succeed him as of January 1, 1901. When Campbell brought the need for a southern observatory to the attention of D. O. Mills, the banker agreed to finance this expedition. In sum, an amount of $26,075 would be provided, to cover the cost of instruments, building construction, salaries, travel expenses, and supplies for this two year expedition. This is . The plan was for the completed observatory to be a much less costly duplicate of the spectroscopic capabilities of the instruments used for the northern survey. The resulting cost was one eighteenth the cost of the Lick observatory main telescope. For the observatory location, Campbell initially considered possible sites in Australia. However, climate records and the reports from other astronomers indicated that Chile would be a better site. He finally settled on placing it in the vicinity of the Chilean capital of Santiago, so that supplies and living quarters would be readily available.
The Lick observatory had a spare silvered parabolic glass mirror in its possession, but the shape was imperfect. After deciding on a Cassegrain-style reflecting telescope, during the spring of 1901 the mirror was shipped to the John A. Brashear Company in Allegheny for refiguring. However, the mirror broke while the central hole was being cut, so a new mirror had to be ordered. The mount was constructed by the Fulton Engine Works in Los Angeles, and it arrived at the observatory in December 1901. A rotating steel dome for the observatory was constructed by Warner and Swasey Company, and the spectroscope and other optics by Brashear. When the mirror arrived in 1902, it was found to be again shaped to the wrong figure and had to be returned for correction. With the schedule delayed, it was resolved that the instruments would be shipped to their final destination without testing the completed instrument. The finished mirrors arrived in February 1903, and, as a result, the expedition reached Chile in April at the start of the southern rainy season.
Establishment and early operations
W. W. Campbell had intended to travel with the expedition, but he was severely injured while testing the equipment. Instead, the expedition was headed up by Campbell's associate, William H. Wright, with Harold K. Palmer as his assistant. They set sail from San Francisco on February 28, 1903 in the Pacific Mail steamship Peru. After transferring to the steamship Columbia at Panama, they arrived at Valparaíso on April 18. After a month-long delay due to a riotous strike in the port, the gear was unloaded and then transported to Santiago by rail. There they were greeted by members of the Chilean government, who had agreed to assist by prior arrangement.
After a search for a suitable site for the observatory, the middle rise of the Cerro San Cristóbal was settled upon as the best location for meeting Campbell's general requirements. This ridge is located in the northeastern suburbs of Santiago, with a height of around above the city. This placed it above the dust and haze of the urban area, and free of the frequent fogs that occurred in the valley. Even better, the temperature range on the mount was found to be lower than below. Unfortunately the weather was unusually cloudy that year, limiting observation tests. Late in May the strike ended in Valparaíso, which allowed the observatory equipment to be shipped and construction begun.
Only minor damage had been done to the telescope in transit. However, the dome had arrived badly rusted and repairs were necessary. The ground for the observatory was broken on May 27. The dome consisted of a steel framework sheathed in wood and covered in heavy painted canvas, which did not prove watertight. The observers were housed down in the city, necessitating a nightly climb to the observatory. The initial testing of the main telescope commenced on September 11, 1903. Some zonal aberration was found, which decreased later in the night as the instrument cooled. However, this defect was not found to be significant for spectroscopic work of this type. The telescope was found to change focus as it cooled. The nature of the silvered mirror precluded its use on clear damp nights, which occurred frequently during the rainy season. The silver coating showed a rapid decline in reflectivity over time due to tarnish, which required longer exposure times to compensate. The operation of the spectrograph was found to be on the same order of accuracy as the instrument at Lick Observatory. 380 successful spectrograms had been collected at the station by June 1, 1904.
Extended funding
The funded observation program ended in October 1905. At this point, the spectra of the brighter stars south of declination –25° had been taken, producing a working list of 145 stars of which at least four photographic plates had been taken. The total number of specrograms was 800, with 676 of stars on the list and 92 that were found to be unmeasureable. The astronomers discovered 22 stars with variable radial velocities. Mills agreed to continue funding the station for an additional five years. To head up this new observation period, acting astronomer Heber D. Curtis set sail from San Francisco on December 30, 1905. The same month, Palmer returned to Lick observatory where he began measurements of the spectrogram plates. Curtis assumed command of the expedition on March 1, 1906, whereupon Wright returned to the United States. Curtis' assistant, George F. Paddock, arrived August 2, 1906.
The new financing was used to fund improvements to the observatory. The first change was the construction of an additional building to accommodate a machine shop, plus two rooms for the observers. New bearings were provided for the declination axis, which had proven difficult to move. Two new spectrograms were built for studying fainter stars, a refrigeration unit was provided for keeping the dome artificially chilled in the evening, and an apparatus was assembled for rapidly silvering the mirror. The first resilvering of the mirror occurred in March 1906. Following this, exposure times were reduced by 40%. However, the efficiency of the coat was back at its old level after a month. Wilson concluded it should be resilvered every two months for best results. The leaky canvas covering of the dome was replaced with galvanized iron early in 1906.
Data collection continued during the next three years, with around 200 nights per year being highly favorable for viewing. Most of the work was performed with the two-prism spectroscope, which had a lower limit of about magnitude 7.0. By late 1909, 2,700 photographic plates had been produced. 48 candidate spectroscopic binaries had been identified, along with several stars with high proper motion. During February and March, 1909, the telescope was used to observe Comet Morehouse. On June 5, Joseph H. Moore arrived at Santiago to take charge of the observatory. Curtis departed for California on June 17, and Paddock left in July, to be succeeded by Roscoe F. Sanford. By the start of December, a total of 725 stars, mostly below a declination of –20°, had spectrograms taken, measured, and the data collected. A total of 3,608 spectrographic plates had been made.
After D. O. Mills died in 1910, his son, Ogden Mills, agreed to fund the site until 1913. A sum totaling $30,000 was provided, covering expenses up through 1914. In addition to normal measurements, Campbell decided to use the additional time to make spectrographic measurements of nebulae in the southern hemisphere. These would supplement the previous measurement of 13 nebulae made by James E. Keeler in the northern hemisphere. Observations of 12 nebulae in the Greater Magellanic Cloud indicated that this formation was receding with a velocity of , which suggested that it may be related to the spiral nebulae. After four years in charge, Moore returned to California in 1913, being replaced by Ralph E. Wilson as of August 1, the same year. Sanford remained behind for two more years, departing in June 1915.
Full funding by Ogden Mills ended in 1917, and the remaining period was financed by fourteen friends of the observatory, which included Mills. Wilson was assisted by math instructor Arthur A. Scott from the Instituto Ingles in Santiago, beginning in 1913 until he resigned June, 1917, then by Charles M. Huffer. During June 1918, Wilson resigned his position and returned to the United States, whereupon he was engaged in war service constructing aircraft in Dayton, Ohio for use by the United States in World War I. This left Huffer alone at the station, as Paddock was not given permission by the military authorities for that service. Huffer ran the station until October, 1919, when Paddock returned for five years. The observatory was renamed Chile Station of Lick Observatory in 1919. The final head of the observatory was Ferdinand J. Neubauer, who assumed control on January 22, 1924.
In 1926, Campbell was able to estimate a velocity and apex of solar motion in equatorial coordinates based on the radial velocity study:
{| class="wikitable"
| style="text-align: right;" | V0 ||
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | α0 ||
|-
| style="text-align: right;" | δ0 ||
|}
This is located in the constellation of Hercules not far from the present day estimated position of (α = 271°, δ = 30°) and velocity . The observatory remained in operation under Lick observatory control until 1928, with about 10,700 spectrograms being produced. The results of the observation program from both hemispheres were published at that time.
Purchase and subsequent use
The observatory was purchased by the Chilean lawyer Manuel Foster Recabarren, who then donated it to the Universidad Católica de Chile in 1928. At that time it was the largest operational telescope in the southern hemisphere and the tenth largest in the world. During the 1940s, it was used by the German astronomer Erich P. Heilmeier for the spectroscopic study of Beta Cephei and other variable stars. Because of the growth of the Santiago metropolis, observing conditions grew steadily worse. Part of the observatory was damaged in a fire and an assistant lost an eye in an accident. Heilmeier complained about the lack of running water, astronomers, and funding. The University continued to operate it sporadically until 1948, when technical and economic problems caused it to cease operations.
Restoration of the observatory began in the 1980s, and, since 1982, the observatory was used once more by the University for research and instruction. Particular attention was paid to the study of RS CVn variables, Wolf–Rayet stars, and Beta Cephei stars. In 1986, observations of Halley's Comet were made for the general public, then of the supernova SN 1987A in 1984. However, the observation quality became degraded over time due to the growth of the city and its light pollution. The observatory ceased operations altogether in 1995, and was declared a national monument in 2010. The site is now used primarily for education purposes and is open for guided tours of the general public.
See also
List of astronomical observatories
References
Further reading
External links
Astronomical observatories in Chile
Lick Observatory
History of Santiago, Chile
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
National Monuments of Chile
History of astronomy | Manuel Foster Observatory | [
"Astronomy"
] | 2,840 | [
"History of astronomy"
] |
67,775,725 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinnova | Spinnova Plc (natively Spinnova Oyj) is a Finnish textile material innovation company that has developed a breakthrough patented technology for making textile fibre from wood, pulp, or waste, without harmful dissolving chemicals.
The company has developed a machine, which can transform cellulosic pulp into fiber for the textile industry. The company’s headquarters and pilot factory are located in Jyväskylä, Finland, and it has offices in Helsinki, Finland. In 2021, Spinnova and its partner, Suzano Papel e Celulose announced plans to build the first commercial-scale fiber production facility in Jyväskylä. The facility, called Woodspin, opened in May 2023, with a capacity to produce 1,000 tonnes of sustainable, recyclable and fully biodegradable textile fibre from responsibly-grown wood each year.
In March 2024, Spinnova announced to update its strategy and targets, which focuses on technology sales.
Technology
Spinnova's technology, initially developed at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, led to the formation of an independent company in 2014. This technology is focused on mechanically converting cellulosic fiber into textile fibers using bio-based raw materials. Spinnova has incorporated various materials in its fiber production, including wood, textile waste, and agricultural by-products like wheat and barley straw. In 2021, the company expanded its research and development efforts to include the creation of fibers derived from leather waste.
Recognitions
2019 World Changing Ideas Awards Winner in the Experimental category
Fast Company’s 2020 Innovation by Design Awards’ Sustainability category finalist with Marimekko
Sustainability Achievement of the Year 2020 award with Bergans
Scandinavian Outdoor Awards 2021/22 overall winner with Bergans
See also
Lyocell
References
Cellulose
Companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki
Finnish companies established in 2014
Jyväskylä
Manufacturing companies established in 2014
Textile companies of Finland
Recycling industry
Textile engineering | Spinnova | [
"Physics",
"Engineering"
] | 393 | [
"Applied and interdisciplinary physics",
"Textile engineering"
] |
67,779,688 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition%20metal%20acyl%20complexes | Transition metal acyl complexes describes organometallic complexes containing one or more acyl (RCO) ligands. Such compounds occur as transient intermediates in many industrially useful reactions, especially carbonylations.
Structure and bonding
Acyl complexes are usually low-spin and spin-paired.
Monometallic acyl complexes adopt one of two related structures, C-bonded and η2-C-O-bonded. These forms sometimes interconvert. For the purpose of electron-counting, C-bonded acyl ligands count as 1-electron ligands, akin to pseudohalides. η2-Acyl ligands count as 3-electron "L-X" ligands.
bridging acyl ligands are also well known, where the carbon bonds to one metal and the oxygen bonds to a second metal. One example is the bis(μ-acetyl) complex [(CO)3Fe(C(O)CH3)2Fe(CO)3]2-.
Synthesis
Metal acyls are often generated by the reaction of low-valent metal centers with acyl chlorides. Illustrative is the oxidative addition of acetyl chloride to Vaska's complex, converting square planar Ir(I) to octahedral Ir(III):
Some acyl complexes can be produced from aldehydes by C-H oxidative addition. This reaction underpins hydroacylation.
In a related reaction, metal carbonyl anions are acylated by acyl chlorides:
(C5H5)Fe(CO)2Na + CH3C(O)Cl → (C5H5)Fe(CO)2COCH3 + NaCl
Another important route to metal acyls entails insertion of CO into a metal alkyl bond. In this pathway, the alkyl ligand migrates to an adjacent CO ligand. This reaction is a step in the hydroformylation process.
Coordinatively saturated metal carbonyls react with organolithium reagents to give acyls. This reaction proceeds by attack of the alkyl nucleophile on the electrophilic CO ligand.
Reactions
In practical sense, the most important reaction of metal acyls is their detachment by reductive elimination of aldehydes from acyl metal hydrides:
LnMC(O)R(H) → LnM + RCHO
This reaction is the final step of hydroformylation.
Another important reaction is decarbonylation. This reaction requires that the acyl complex be coordinatively unsaturated:
LnMC(O)R → Ln-1M(CO)R + L
Ln-1MC(O)R → Ln-1M(CO)R
The oxygen center of acyl ligands is basic. This aspect is manifested in O-alkylations, which converts acyl complexes to alkoxycarbene complexes:
Applications
Metal acyl complexes participate in several commercial processes, including:
hydroformylation
acetic acid synthesis
Eastman acetic anhydride process
Ethylene-carbon monoxide copolymerization
A reaction involving metal acyl complexes of occasional value in organic synthesis is the Tsuji–Wilkinson decarbonylation reaction of aldehydes.
References
Organometallic chemistry
Transition metals
Coordination chemistry
Ligands | Transition metal acyl complexes | [
"Chemistry"
] | 709 | [
"Ligands",
"Organometallic chemistry",
"Coordination chemistry"
] |
67,779,776 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei%20Viktorovich%20Bochkarev | Sergei (or Sergey) Viktorovich Bochkarev (or Bočkarev) (Сергей Викторович Бочкарёв, born July 24, 1941, in Kuybyshev now renamed Samara) is a Soviet and Russian mathematician.
Education and career
He received in 1964 his undergraduate degree from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and in 1969 his Russian Candidate of Sciences degree (PhD) from Moscow State University. His dissertation о рядах Фурье по системе Хаара (On Fourier series in the Haar system) was supervised by Pyotr Lavrentyevich Ulyanov. From Moscow State University, Bochkarev received in 1974 his Russian Doctor of Science degree (habilitation). Since 1971 he has worked at the Steklov Institute of Mathematics, where he holds the title of leading scientific researcher in the Department of Function Theory.
His research deals with harmonic analysis, BMO spaces, Hardy spaces, functional analysis, construction of orthogonal bases in various function spaces, and exponential sums.
In 1977 he was awarded the Salem Prize. In 1978 he was an Invited Speaker with talk Метод усреднения в теории ортогональных рядов (The averaging method in the theory of orthogonal bases) at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Helsinki.
Selected publications
On a problem of Zygmund, Mathematics of the USSR-Izvestia, vol. 7, no. 3, 1973, p. 629
Existence of a basis in the space of functions analytic in the disk, and some properties of Franklin's system, Math. USSR Sbornik, vol. 24, 1974, pp. 1–16
The method of averaging in the theory of orthogonal series and some questions in the theory of bases, Tr. MIAN SSSR, vol. 146, 1978, pp. 3–87
The method of averaging in the theory of orthogonal series and some questions in the theory of bases, Proc. Steklov Inst. Math., vol. 146, 1980, pp. 1–92
Everywhere divergent Fourier series with respect to the Walsh system and with respect to multiplicative systems, Russian Math. Surveys, vol. 59, 2004, pp. 103–124
Multiplicative Inequalities for the L1 Norm: Applications in Analysis and Number Theory, Proc. Steklov Inst. Math., vol. 255, 2006, pp. 49–64
A Generalization of Kolmogorov's Theorem to Biorthogonal Systems, Proc. Steklov Inst. Math., vol. 260, 2008, pp. 37–49
References
External links
1941 births
Living people
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology alumni
Moscow State University alumni
Soviet mathematicians
20th-century Russian mathematicians
21st-century Russian mathematicians
Mathematical analysts | Sergei Viktorovich Bochkarev | [
"Mathematics"
] | 616 | [
"Mathematical analysis",
"Mathematical analysts"
] |
67,779,815 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleoflora%20of%20the%20Eocene%20Okanagan%20Highlands | The paleoflora of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands includes all plant and fungi fossils preserved in the Eocene Okanagan Highlands Lagerstätten. The highlands are a series of Early Eocene geological formations which span an transect of British Columbia, Canada and Washington state, United States and are known for the diverse and detailed plant fossils which represent an upland temperate ecosystem immediately after the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum, and before the increased cooling of the middle and late Eocene to Oligocene. The fossiliferous deposits of the region were noted as early as 1873, with small amounts of systematic work happening in the 1880-90s on British Columbian sites, and 1920-30s for Washington sites. A returned focus and more detailed descriptive work on the Okanagan Highlands sites revived in the 1970s. The noted richness of agricultural plant families in Republic and Princeton floras resulted in the term "Eocene orchards" being used for the paleofloras.
Paleoflora
The Eocene Okanagan Highlands hosted a diverse mix of temperate and tropical paleobiotic elements, with the forests having the first significant proportions of temperate plants in North America. The paleobotanical community was a mixture of plants found in subtropical evergreen and temperate deciduous forests. Included in the forest were a number of important modern temperate flowering plant families such as Betulaceae, Rosaceae, and Sapindaceae, plus the conifer family Pinaceae. Study of the deciduous plants from the highlands has documented the occurrence of heteromorphic leaves derived from sun versus shade conditions and long shoot or short shoot buds. The paleobotanical community of the Republic area has been noted as the most diverse floral community of the Okanagan highlands, with some estimates ranging to over 68 families and 134 genera being present. The noted richness of Rosaceae fossils along with other important agricultural plant families found in the Republic and Princeton floras, including the genera that contain modern apples, blackberries, cherries, and serviceberries resulted in Wes Wher and Donald Hopkins (1994) coining the term "Eocene orchards". Fossil evidence from both Sorbus/Crataegus and Rhus leaves in the Republic sites indicate the area was a center for species overlap and active hybridization events.
Extent
The majority of the lake deposits are compression fossils in lake bed sediments grouped informally into "Northern", "Central", and "Southern" sites. The Northern sites are composed of unnamed Ootsa Group formations which outcrop as the "Driftwood shales" near Smithers, British Columbia, sites now considered lost in the Quesnel, British Columbia area, and the "Horsefly shales", of an unnamed formation and unnamed group which outcrop around Horsefly, British Columbia. The Central sites represent Kamloops Group formations with the McAbee Fossil Beds, Tranquille River site and Falkland site, all in the Tranquille Formation, the Quichena site and Stump Lake site in the Coldwater Beds and outcrops of the Chu Chua Formation near Barriere, British Columbia. The Southern sites include the Princeton Group Allenby Formation sites surrounding Princeton, British Columbia, such as "Nine Mile Creek", "One Mile Creek", "Pleasant Valley", "Thomas Ranch", "Vermilian Bluffs", and "Whipsaw Creek". The most southerly of the Okanagan Highlands lakes, the Klondike Mountain Formation in Northern Ferry County, Washington include the "Boot Hill", "Corner Lot", "Gold Mountain", "Knob Hill", and "Mount Elizabeth" localities. Closely correlated with the Klondike Mountain Formation are the Penticton groups Kettle River, Marama and Marron Formations in the Boundary District along the Canada-United States border.
There is debate as to the affiliation of the, now lost, Quesnel outcrops with the Greater Okanagan Highlands. Archibald et al. (2018) in the monograph overview of the Highlands Hymenoptera included them as part of the series. However the certainty for the placement was later questioned by Archibald and Cannings (2022) who opted to tentatively exclude Quesnel from the highlands while discussing the history of field collecting in the region.
Chert and amber
Additionally two important non-compression biotas are present in the Eocene Okanagan Highlands. A permineralized chert flora, the Princeton Chert is found along the Similkameen River interbedded with coal deposits of the Ashnola shale unit, Allenby Formation known for anatomically preserved plants. In the Central sites, subbituminous coal of the Hat Creek Coal Formation around Hat Creek hosts an amber biota, the Hat Creek amber which preserves many small insects and plant fragments that would likely not be found in the compression biotas.
Diatoms
Two algae taxa of the protist order Ochrophyta have been described from the highlands, and are placed in the family Aulacoseiraceae, a member of the diatom order Bacillariophyceae,. The third algae is identified as a living paleoendemic Mallomonas species now restricted to warmer climates in North America and Europe.
Bryophytes
A group of six mosses were described from the Allenby Formation by Kuc (1972,1974) representing the genera Ditrichites, and , with two species placed in the morphogenus . Further revision of the fossils was conducted by Milner (1980), who placed two species into the genus Plagiopodopsis and moved both species described as Palaeohypnum to other genera. One further moss has been described from Horsefly, and placed in the living genus Aulacomnium by Janssens et al (1979). Dillhoff et al. (2013) reference undescribed moss specimens from the Klondike Mountain Formation known from vegetative gametophytes, and George Poinar, Jr. et al. (1999) illustrated an undescribed specimen of moss entombed in Hat Creek Amber.
Lycophytes
Both an undescribed member of the fossil quillwort genus Isoetites and the spikemoss genus Selaginella have been found in the Klondike Mountain Formation, while an additional fossil deemed Cf. Selaginella was later reported from the Allenby Formation.
Pteridophytes
Five species of ferns and fern relatives have been described from the compression biotas and an additional four compression taxa that have been tentatively identified to family or genus. A series of four additional ferns have been described from premineralized specimens in the Princeton Chert and a fifth taxon is identified to genus. Several fern specimens were briefly mentioned from Horsefly but no taxonomic assignment was made due to lack of reproductive vegetation.
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" style="margin:auto; width:100%
! Family
! Genus
! species
! Sites
! Notes
! Images
|-
| rowspan=2 | Athyriaceae
|
†Dickwhitea
|
†Dickwhitea allenbyensis
|
Princeton Chert
|
An athyriaceous fern
|
|-
|
†
|
†
|
Princeton Chert
|
An athyriaceous fern
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | Blechnaceae
|
†
|
†
|
Princeton Chert
|
A blechnacious fern
|
|-
|
Woodwardia
|
†Woodwardia arctica
|
Chu Chua
|
A blechnacious fernFirst identified as Woodwardia maxoni
|
|-
|
Cystopteridaceae
|
Cf. Cystopteris
|
Undescribed
|
Republic
|
A possible bladder fern relative. Not identified to species
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | Dennstaedtiaceae
|
Dennstaedtia
|
†Dennstaedtia christophelii
|
Falkland
Republic
|
A Hayscented fernFirst identified at Falkland as (?)Adiantum sp.2
|
|-
|
†Dennstaedtiopsis
|
†Dennstaedtiopsis aerenchymata
|
Princeton Chert
|
A dennstaedtioid fern
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | Equisetaceae
|
Equisetum
|
†Equisetum similkamense
|
Chu chua
Princeton
|
A scouring rushPossibly a synonym of Equisetum boreale per Berry (1926).
|
|-
|
Equisetum
|
Undescribed
|
Falkland
Hat Creek
Republic
|
A scouring rush. Not identified to species
|
|-
|
Hymenophyllaceae
|
Hymenophyllum
|
†Hymenophyllum axsmithii
|
Republic
|
A filmy fern
|
|-
|
Lygodiaceae
|
Lygodium
|
Undescribed
|
Republic
|
A climbing fern. Not identified to species
|
|-
|
Osmundaceae
|
Osmunda
|
Undescribed
|
Driftwood
Horsefly
Princeton
Princeton Chert
|
An osmundaceous fernNot identified to species
|
|-
|
Pteridaceae
|
(?)Adiantum
|
Undescribed
|
Falkland
|
A possible maidenhair fernNot identified to speciesListed by Smith et al. (2012) as (?)Adiantum sp. 1
|
|-
| rowspan=3 | Salviniaceae
| rowspan=2 | Azolla
|
†Azolla primaeva
|
Horsefly
Princeton
Quilchena
Republic
Stump Lake
|
A mosquito fern, First described as Azollophyllum primaevum
|
|-
|
Undescribed
|
Driftwood
Falkland
|
A mosquito fern,Not identified to species
|
|-
|
Salvinia
|
Undescribed
|
Republic(Mt Elizabeth)
|
A "watermoss" species. Not identified to species.
|
|-
|
Thelypteridaceae
|
Cf. Phegopteris
|
Unidentified
|
Driftwood
|
A northern beech fern species. Not described to species.Comparable to species of the P. connectilis group
|
[[File:Cf Phegopteris Driftwood 2022 img1.jpg|thumb|center|upright|Cf. Phegopteris]]
|-
|}
Gymnosperms
Three major groups of gymnosperms are present in the Okanagan Highlands formations, with the most speciose being the pinophytes. The ginkgophytes are represented by two species of Ginkgo, while an undescribed Zamiaceae member is the sole cycadophyte.
Cycadophytes
Gingkophytes
Conifers
Cupressaceae
Pinaceae
Sciadopityaceae
Taxaceae
Angiosperms
Nymphaeales
The basal angiosperms are represented by two Nymphaeales water-lily species Nuphar carlquistii from the Republic and Princeton shales, plus Allenbya collinsonae from the Princeton Chert. Wehr (1995) illustrated two fossils that were tentatively identified as fruits of the banana genus Ensete and the extinct myrtle genus Paleomyrtinaea respectively, however further fossil finds resulted in the re-identification of the first as a N. carlquistii rhizome section, and the second is a seed mass from the same water-lily.
Magnoliids
Monocots
Pigg, Manchester, and DeVore (2023) gave brief descriptions of three monocots from Horsefly, labeling them as Monocot #1 (broad leaved), Monocot #2 (parallel veined), and Monocot #3 (parallel veined). They did not give any taxonomic possibilities for the affinities of the fossils.
Eudicots
"Basal eudicots"
"Superasterids"
"Superrosids"
Fabids COM clade
Fabids nitrogen‑fixing clade
Malvids
Saxifragales and basal Superrosids
Incertae sedis
Fungi
A number of fungi have been preserved within the Princeton Chert, though only three have been formally described as of 2024. The first instance of ectomycorrhizae in the fossil record was reported by LePage et al. (1997) who documented mycorrhizal rootlets associated with Pinus'' roots.
Taxa of uncertain modern identification
A number of taxa identified or described by Penhallow (1902, 1906, 1908) and Berry (1926) have not received much or any modern attention, resulting in uncertainty of taxon affiliation, identification, or synonymy. Many late 1800's to early 1900's identifications of Okanagan highlands fossils were made based on geologic age assumptions ranging between the Miocene to Pliocene, and often specimens were grouped into species bins for taxa first described from Europe.
References
Geology of the Rocky Mountains
Paleogene geology of Washington (state)
Paleontology in Washington (state)
Ypresian North America
Paleontology in British Columbia
Eocene Okanagan Highlands | Paleoflora of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands | [
"Biology"
] | 2,682 | [
"Cenozoic paleobiotas",
"Prehistoric biotas"
] |
67,781,079 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth%20Biosciences | Mammoth Biosciences is a biotechnology company based in Brisbane, California developing diagnostic tests using CRISPR-Cas12a and CRISPR-based therapies using its proprietary ultra-small CRISPR systems. Several CRISPR-Cas systems identified through the company's metagenomics-based protein discovery platform, including members of the Casφ and Cas14 families of CRISPR-associated enzymes, have demonstrated potential for therapeutic genome editing in in vivo settings.
History
The company was founded in 2017 by Jennifer Doudna, Janice Chen, and Lucas Harrington of the University of California, Berkeley, and Trevor Martin of Stanford University. Mammoth signed agreements in December 2019 and January 2020 with Horizon Discovery to combine Mammoth's intellectual property in CRISPR with Horizon's expertise in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Also in 2020, both Mammoth Biosciences and Sherlock Biosciences from the Broad Institute used their similar CRISPR technologies to develop tests for COVID-19. The technology, which is owned under the trademark of DETECTR BOOST, has been contracted to be manufactured by Merck & Co.
In 2023, the company announced that it will focus on developing CRISPR-based therapies. The company's platform uses "ultra-small" Cas enzymes, such as CasΦ and Cas14, which measure down to a third or less the size of Cas9, and which could allow for easier delivery in vivo through commonly used non-viral and viral delivery mechanisms, including adeno-associated virus vectors. Compared to Cas9, CasΦ and Cas14 may also offer less restrictive protospacer adjacent motif requirements, advantageous off-target activity, and allele-specific editing capabilities, which could broaden the range of targetable diseases in the genome. Mammoth previously announced partnerships with Vertex Pharmaceuticals (2021) and Bayer (2022) to research ultra-small CRISPR systems for in vivo editing.
Related Works
Lucas B. Harrington et al. ,Programmed DNA destruction by miniature CRISPR-Cas14 enzymes. Science362,839-842(2018).
Broughton, J.P., Deng, X., Yu, G. et al. CRISPR–Cas12-based detection of SARS-CoV-2. Nat Biotechnol 38, 870–874 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-020-0513-4
Patrick Pausch et al. ,CRISPR-CasΦ from huge phages is a hypercompact genome editor. Science369,333-337(2020).
See also
Sherlock Biosciences
Beam Therapeutics
CRISPR Therapeutics
References
American companies established in 2017
Biotechnology companies of the United States
Health care companies based in California
Jennifer Doudna
Life sciences industry
Medical diagnosis
Genomics companies
Companies based in San Mateo County, California | Mammoth Biosciences | [
"Biology"
] | 588 | [
"Life sciences industry"
] |
67,781,310 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock%20Biosciences | Sherlock Biosciences is a biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts developing diagnostic tests using CRISPR-Cas13. The company was founded in 2019 by Feng Zhang, Jim Collins, Omar Abudayyeh, and Jonathan Gootenberg of the Broad Institute.
Cas13 was discovered by Zheng and Eugene Koonin using computational biology methods, and then further characterized by Jennifer Doudna's team at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2020, both Sherlock Biosciences and Mammoth Biosciences from Doudna's lab at UC Berkeley used their similar CRISPR technologies to develop tests for COVID-19.
In 2021, Sherlock Biosciences and The Forsyth Institute entered into a strategic partnership with its focus being on the research and development of products related to the “detection of human biomarkers in oral cavity and other oral health applications."
See also
Mammoth Biosciences
External links
Company webpage
References
American companies established in 2019
Biotechnology companies of the United States
Genomics companies
Health care companies based in Massachusetts
Life sciences industry
Medical diagnosis | Sherlock Biosciences | [
"Biology"
] | 215 | [
"Life sciences industry"
] |
67,781,339 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomorphization | Monomorphization is a compile-time process where polymorphic functions are replaced by many monomorphic functions for each unique instantiation. It is considered beneficial to undergo the mentioned transformation because it results in the output intermediate representation (IR) having specific types, which allows for more effective optimization. Additionally, many IRs are intended to be low-level and do not accommodate polymorphism. The resulting code is generally faster than dynamic dispatch, but may require more compilation time and storage space due to duplicating the function body.
Example
This is an example of a use of a generic identity function in Rust
fn id<T>(x: T) -> T {
return x;
}
fn main() {
let int = id(10);
let string = id("some text");
println!("{int}, {string}");
}
After monomorphization, this would become equivalent to
fn id_i32(x: i32) -> i32 {
return x;
}
fn id_str(x: &str) -> &str {
return x;
}
fn main() {
let int = id_i32(10);
let string = id_str("some text");
println!("{int}, {string}");
}
See also
Parametric polymorphism
Type erasure
Template (C++)
References
Polymorphism (computer science) | Monomorphization | [
"Mathematics"
] | 309 | [
"Type theory",
"Polymorphism (computer science)",
"Mathematical structures"
] |
67,781,978 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene%20Sciriha | Irene Sciriha Aquilina is a Maltese mathematician specializing in spectral graph theory and chemical graph theory. A particular topic of her research has been the singular graphs, graphs whose adjacency matrix is a singular matrix, and the nut graphs, singular graphs all of whose nontrivial induced subgraphs are non-singular. She is a professor of mathematics at the University of Malta.
Education and career
Sciriha studied mathematics at the University of Malta, earning bachelor's and master's degrees as the only woman studying mathematics or physics there at that time. She completed a PhD in 1998 at the University of Reading in England. Her dissertation, On some aspects of graph spectra, was jointly supervised by Anthony Hilton and Stanley Fiorini.
She began teaching at the University of Malta in 1971. She was convenor of European Women in Mathematics from 2000 to 2001.
Recognition
Sciriha is a Fellow of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications. One of her students, chemist Martha Borg, won the Turner Prize at the University of Sheffield for a doctoral dissertation co-advised by Sciriha and Patrick W. Fowler.
References
External links
Home page
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Maltese mathematicians
20th-century mathematicians
21st-century mathematicians
21st-century women mathematicians
Women mathematicians
Graph theorists
Alumni of the University of Reading
Academic staff of the University of Malta
Maltese women scientists | Irene Sciriha | [
"Mathematics"
] | 280 | [
"Mathematical relations",
"Graph theory",
"Graph theorists"
] |
66,270,372 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epsilon%20Indi%20Ab | Epsilon Indi Ab is a gas giant exoplanet orbiting the star Epsilon Indi A, about 11.9 light-years away in the constellation of Indus. The planet was confirmed to exist in 2018. It orbits at around 30 AU (almost as far as Neptune from the Sun) with a period of around 180 years and a relatively high eccentricity of 0.4, and has a mass around seven times that of Jupiter. It was directly imaged using the James Webb Space Telescope in 2023 and the image was released in 2024.
, Epsilon Indi Ab is the nearest exoplanet to be directly imaged, and with a temperature of about , is also the coolest exoplanet to be directly imaged, and cooler than all but one imaged brown dwarf (the exception being the planetary-mass WISE 0855−0714). It is predicted, based on evolutionary models, to have a luminosity around to .
The Epsilon Indi system also contains a pair of brown dwarfs, Epsilon Indi Ba and Bb, at a wide separation from the primary star. As such, this system provides a benchmark case for the study of the formation of gas giants and brown dwarfs.
History of observations
The first evidence of Epsilon Indi Ab was found in 2002 when measurements of the radial velocity of Epsilon Indi by Endl et al. appeared to show a trend that indicated a planetary companion with an orbital period of more than 20 years. A substellar object with a minimum mass of and orbital separation of roughly 6.5 AU was within the parameters of the highly approximate data.
A visual search using the ESO's Very Large Telescope found one potential candidate. However, a subsequent examination by the Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS showed that this was a background object. As of 2009, a search for an unseen companion at 4 μm failed to detect an orbiting object. These observations further constrained the hypothetical object to be 5–20 times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting between 10 and 20 AU and have an inclination of more than 20°. Alternatively, it may be an exotic stellar remnant.
A longer study of radial velocity, using the HARPS echelle spectrometer, to follow up on Endl's findings, was published in a paper by M. Zechmeister et al. in 2013. The findings confirm that, quoting the paper, "ε Ind A has a steady long-term trend still explained by a planetary companion". This refined the radial-velocity trend observed and indicated a planetary companion with an orbital period greater than 30 years and a minimum mass of . The radial-velocity trend was observed through all the observations taken using the HARPS spectrometer, but due to the long period predicted for just one orbit of the object around ε Indi A, more than 30 years, the phase coverage was not yet complete.
In March 2018, a preprint was posted to arXiv that confirmed the existence of Epsilon Indi Ab using radial velocity measurements. In December 2019, the confirmation of this planet, along with updated parameters from both radial velocity and astrometry, was published by Fabo Feng et al. in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. This study found a semi-major axis of about 11.6 AU, an orbital period of about 45 years, an eccentricity of about 0.26, and a mass of . Updated orbital solutions were published in 2023, finding a higher eccentricity.
A direct imaging attempt of this planet using the James Webb Space Telescope was performed in 2023, and the image was released in 2024. The detected planet's mass and orbit are different from what was predicted based on radial velocity and astrometry observations. The JWST and VLT/VISIR observations imply a super-Jupiter with a mass of about 6 Jupiter masses. The object is fainter than expected in the shorter wavelengths, which might be due to absorption by methane, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide commonly found in giant planets. This might be confirmed in the future with a spectrum. Alternatively this could be explained with a cloudy atmosphere. A second direct imaging attempt on this system to confirm the nature of this planet has been approved. The new orbital parameters were calculated with archived radial velocity data, the Hipparcos-Gaia astrometry of the host star and the position of the planet from the images. The planet has a semi-major axis of around 30 AU, an eccentricity of 0.4 and an inclination of 104°. The planet-star separation is 4.1 arcsec in JWST MIRI data and 4.8 arcsec in VLT VISIR data. It is undetected in VLT NaCo observations. The temperature of 275 K is slightly warmer or similar to the nearby Y-dwarf WISE J0855−0714 (225 to 260 K or 285 K), making Epsilon Indi Ab likely one of the coldest objects to be directly imaged outside the solar system. At this temperature, which is warmer than Jupiter (Teff=125 K), but colder than 350 K, it is predicted that such an exoplanet could have water ice clouds and lower layers of sulfide clouds.
See also
Epsilon Eridani b, another nearby Jupiter-like exoplanet
Gliese 832 b, another nearby Jupiter-like exoplanet
List of directly imaged exoplanets
TZ Arietis b
Notes
References
Exoplanets discovered in 2018
Exoplanets detected by radial velocity
Exoplanets detected by astrometry
Exoplanets detected by direct imaging
Giant planets
Indus (constellation) | Epsilon Indi Ab | [
"Astronomy"
] | 1,150 | [
"Indus (constellation)",
"Constellations"
] |
66,270,567 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel%20Gdoutos | Emmanuel E. Gdoutos (Greek: Εμμανουήλ Ε. Γδούτος, born June 2, 1948) is a Greek academic, Professor Emeritus at the Democritus University of Thrace and Full Member of the Academy of Athens. He has worked in experimental mechanics, fracture mechanics, composite materials, and sandwich structures. His main scientific accomplishments include the solution of many problems of crack growth under combination of opening-mode and sliding-mode loading which were published in his book: “Problems of Mixed-Mode Crack Propagation." His contributions have been widely recognized worldwide through membership and leadership in scientific societies, national academies and honorary diplomas and awards.
Early life and career
Gdoutos was born on June 2, 1948, in Mytilene, Greece. He earned his Diploma in Civil Engineering in 1971 and his PhD in Applied Mechanics in 1973, both from the National Technical University of Athens. Gdoutos has been married to Maria Konsta-Gdoutos since 1984. Gdoutos and Maria Konsta-Gdoutos have two children, Eleftherios Gdoutos and Alexandra-Kalliopi Gdoutou.
Gdoutos is a Full Member of the Academy of Athens since 2016. He served as Professor and Director of the Laboratory of Applied Mechanics (1977-2015), and as Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering of the Democritus University of Thrace (1987-1989). Gdoutos has held numerous academic appointments internationally, serving as the Distinguished Clark Millikan Professor at the California Institute of Technology (2013-2016) and as Visiting Professor at Northwestern University, Lehigh University, the University of California, Davis, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Toledo. He promoted the Greek-Ukrainian relations by implementing technical exchange in the field of solid mechanics and organizing and participating in bi-lateral conferences between the two nations in Lviv, Ukraine and Xanthi, Greece.
He is Archon, Teacher of the Nation, of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. He serves as President of the Hellenic Society of Linguistic Heritage and the Theocaris Foundation of the Academy of Athens
On the occasion of the 16th European Conference of Fracture he presented the opening ceremony address in English using only words of Greek origin.
Research interests
Gdoutos's research interest include experimental mechanics, fracture mechanics, advanced composite materials, sandwich construction, and nanotechnology. He is the author of 16 books, 135 papers in refereed journals, 136 papers in conference proceedings, and editor of 25 books. He presented solution to the problem of stable crack growth under elastoplastic conditions.
He analyzed the three-dimensional nature of the stress field at crack tips by the optical method of caustics and studied the residual stresses in ceramic composites.
Besides, he presented solutions for the stress and failure behavior of brittle matrix composites. He analyzed the nonlinear behavior and failure mechanisms of sandwich structures and foam materials under various loading conditions. He analyzed the fatigue and failure behavior of tire rubber, and studied the processing and characterization of clay/epoxy nanocomposites.
He developed the equations of caustics for the general case of a surface in space and developed a method for the study of the topography of the surface from its corresponding caustics by illuminating the surface by a parallel, convergent or divergent light beam.
He presented solutions to the problem of stress singularity at the apex of two wedges fully bonded or sliding.
Membership in National Academies
Full Member of the Academy of Athens, 2016
Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2016
Foreign Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2010
Foreign Member of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, 2021
Member of the International Academy of Engineering (former Academy of Engineering of USSR), 2010
Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Engineering, 2009
Member of Academia Europaea, 2008
Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences, 2008, Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Division of Engineering, 2010-2016
Fellow of the American Academy of Mechanics, 2007
Corresponding Member of the Academy of Athens, Greece, 2007
Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2001
Fellow of New York Academy of Sciences, 2001
Fellowships
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2012
Fellow of the European Structural Integrity Society (ESIS), 2008
Fellow of the European Society for Experimental Mechanics (EURASEM), 2010
Fellow of the International Congress on Fracture (ICF), 2009
Fellow of the Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2004
Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 1993
Awards and honours
“Timoshenko Mechanics Lecture”, Louisiana State University, 2020
“Award of the Rotary Club of Mytilene”, for His Invaluable Contributions in Engineering Mechanics and Higher Education, 2019
Archon, Teacher of the Nation, Patriarchate of Alexandria and Africa, 2018
“Blaise Pascal Medal in Engineering 2018,” European Academy of Sciences, 2018
“Takeo Yokobori Medal,” International Congress of Fracture, 2017
“Theocaris Award,” European Society for Experimental Mechanics (EURASEM), 2012
SAGE Best Paper Award at the First International Conference on Damage Mechanics, Belgrade, 25–27 July 2012, for the paper: "Failure Modes of Composite Sandwich Beams," International Journal of Damage Mechanics, Vol. 11, pp. 309–334, 2002, by Daniel, I.M., Gdoutos, E.E., Wang, K.-A. and Abot, J.L., 2012
“Panetti-Ferrari Prize,” Turin Academy of Sciences, 2012 (past recipients of the award include: G.I.Taylor (1958), J.M. Burgers (1960), W. Prager (1963), M.J. Lighthill (1965), C. Truesdell (1967), N.I. Muskhelishvili (1969), W.T. Koiter (1971), R.S. Rivlin (1975), P. Germain (1978), G. Grioli (1982), L. Crocco (1985), R. Hill (1988), G.I. Barenblatt (1995), D.C. Drucker (1999), H.K. Moffatt (2001), J.L. Ericksen (2003), K.R. Sreenivasan (2006), J.R. Rice (2008), U. Frisch (2010)
“Colonnetti Gold Medal 2012,” Italian Research Institute of Metrology (INRIM), 2012
“Zandman Award,” Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2011
“Golden Sign,” Russian Academy of Engineering, 2011
"Tatnall Award,” Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2010
“Award of Merit,” European Society for Experimental Mechanics (EURASEM), 2010
“Griffith Medal,” European Structural Integrity Society (ESIS), 2010
“Theocaris Award,” Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2009
“Lazan Award,” Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM), 2009
Medal and Diploma of the International Academic Rating of Popularity “Golden Fortune,” 2009
Paton Medal of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, 2009
Jubilee Medal “XV Year to IAE” of the International Academy of Engineering, 2009
“Award of Merit,” European Structural Integrity Society (ESIS), 2008
The Journal Meccanica dedicated a special issue in his honor, Vol. 50(2), pp. 253–590 (2015).
Bibliography
He published and edited over 40 books in the area of mechanics of materials, fracture mechanics and experimental mechanics. His book "Fracture Mechanics" is used as a textbook by many universities for fracture mechanics courses.
Gdoutos, E.E., "Theory and Applications of Photoelasticity,” pp. 1–127, Athens National Technical University, 1976.
Theocaris, P.S. and Gdoutos, E.E., "Matrix Theory of Photoelasticity,” Springer Series in Optical Sciences, Vol. 11, pp. i-xi and 1-352, Springer Verlag, 1979.
Gdoutos, E.E. "Mechanics of Deformable Bodies - Theory of Elasticity and Strength of Materials,” pp. i-xv and 1-542, Kyriakidis Bros Publishers, Thessaloniki, 1979.
Gdoutos, E.E., "Kinematics,” pp. i-x and 1-106, Kyriakids Bros Publishers, Thessaloniki, 1981.
Gdoutos, E.E. and Calfas, C., "Statics - Exercises, Vol. I,” pp. i-xiii and 1-558, Kyriakidis Bros Publishers, Thessaloniki, 1981. ISBN 960-343-072-2
Gdoutos, E.E. and Calfas, C., "Statics - Exercises, Vol. II,” pp. i-viii and 1-769, Kyriakidis Bros Publishers, Thessaloniki, 1983. ISBN 960-266-105-4.
Gdoutos, E.E. and Zacharopoulos, D., "Problems of the Theory of Elasticity,” pp. i-xii and 1-318, Kyriakidis Bros Publishers, Thessaloniki, 1984.
Gdoutos, E.E., "Problems of Mixed-Mode Crack Propagation”, pp. i-xiv and 1-204, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1984.
Gdoutos, E.E., "Theory of Elasticity", Symmetria Publishing, Athens, 2003. ISBN 978-960-266-118-5.
Gdoutos, E.E., "Strength of Materials”, Symmetria, Athens, 2004. ISBN 960-266-114-3.
Gdoutos, E.E., "Statics,” pp. 1–359, Kyriakids Bros Publishers, Thessaloniki, 1984.
Gdoutos, E.E. and Calfas, C., "Principles of Mechanics of Rigid Bodies – Statics,” Vol. I, pp. i-xii and 1-480, Kyriakidis Bros Publishers, Thessaloniki, 1985.
Gdoutos, E.E. and Calfas, C., "Principles of Mechanics of Rigid Bodies - Statics", Vol. II, pp. i-xii and 1-492, Kyriakidis Bros Publishers, Thessaloniki, 1986.
Gdoutos, E.E., "Fracture Mechanics Criteria and Applications,” pp. i-xii and 1-314, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1990.
Gdoutos, E.E. and Sih, G.C. (eds), "Mechanics and Physics of Energy Density,” pp. I-VIII and 1-209, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992.
Gdoutos, E.E., "Fracture Mechanics - An Introduction," pp. i-xiii and 1-307, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1993.
Theocaris P.S. and Gdoutos, E.E. (eds), “Proceedings of the Fourth Greek National Congress on Mechanics,” Vol. I and II, pp. i-xvi and 1-1068, Kyriakidis Bros Publishers, 1995.
Gdoutos, E.E., "Solutions Manual: Fracture Mechanics - An Introduction,” pp. i-viii and 1-196, Kyriakidis Bros Publishers, 1996.
Paipetis, S.A. and Gdoutos, E.E. (ed.), “Proceedings of the First Hellenic Conference on Composite Materials and Structures,” Vol. I, pp. i-xiv and 1-810 and Vol. II, pp. i-xvi and 1-238, Kyriakidis Bros Publishers, 1997.
Gdoutos, E.E. (ed.), “Honorary Volume for Professor D.D. Raftopoulos,” pp. i-xxvi and 1-562, Athanasopoulos and Papadamis Publishers, 1998.
Kounadis, A.N. and Gdoutos, E.E. (eds), "Recent Advances in Mechanics - Abstracts,” pp. i-viii and 1-102, Athanasopoulos and Papadamis Publishers, 1998.
Gdoutos, E.E., Pilakoutas, K. and Rodopoulos, C.A. (eds), "Failure Analysis of Industrial Composite Materials,” pp. i-xviii and 1-555, McGraw-Hill, 2000.
Katsikadellis, J.T. Beskos, D.E. and Gdoutos, E.E. (ed.), "Recent Advances in Applied Mechanics - Honorary Volume for Professor A.N. Kounadis,” pp. i-xix and 1-349, National Technical University of Athens, 2000.
Gdoutos, E.E. (ed.), "Recent Advances in Experimental Mechanics - In Honor of Isaac M. Daniel,” pp. i-xlvi and 1-798, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.
Gdoutos, E.E. and Z. P. Marioli-Riga (eds), “Recent Advances in Composite Materials - In Honor of. S. A. Paipetis,” pp. i- xxviii and 1-381, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.
Gdoutos, E.E., Rodopoulos, C.A. and Yates, J.R. (eds), “Problems of Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue – A Solution Guide,” pp. i-xxvi and 1-618, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.
Gdoutos, E.E., “Fracture Mechanics – An Introduction,” Second Edition, pp. i-xv and 1-369, Springer, 2005.
Gdoutos, E.E., (ed.), “Fracture of Nano and Engineering Materials and Structures,” Proceedings of the 16th European Conference of Fracture (ECF16), pp. i-l and 1-1418, Springer, 2006.
Gdoutos, E.E. and Andrianopoulos, N.P. (eds), “Collected Papers of Professor Pericles S. Theocaris,” Introductory Volume & Volumes 1-12, Pericles S. Theocaris Foundation, 2006.
Gdoutos, E.E., (ed.) “Experimental Analysis of Nano and Engineering Materials and Structures,” Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Experimental Mechanics (ICEM13)”, pp. i –xlii, and 1-978, Springer, 2007.
Daniel, I.M., Gdoutos, E.E. and Rajapakse, Y.D.S. (eds), “Major Accomplishments in Composite Materials and Sandwich Structures – An Anthology of ONR Sponsored Research,” Springer, pp. i-xviii, and 1-818, Springer, 2009.
Kounadis, A.N. and Gdoutos, E.E. (eds), “Recent Advances in Mechanics - Dedicated to the Late Academician - Professor Pericles S. Theocaris,” Book of Abstracts, Pericles S. Theocaris Foundation, pp. i-xvi, and 1-75, 2009.
Gdoutos, E.E. (ed.), “Proceedings of the First National Greek Conference and First Greek-Ukrainian Symposium on Fracture Mechanics of Materials and Structures,” pp. i-x and 1-120, 2010.
Kounadis, A.N. and Gdoutos, E.E. (eds), “Recent Advances in Mechanics - Dedicated to the Late Academician - Professor Pericles S. Theocaris,” pp i-xxx, and 1-462, Springer, 2011.
Panasyuk, V.V., Gdoutos, E.E. and Bobalo, Yu.Ya. (eds), “Proceedings of the Second Ukrainian-Greek Symposium on Fracture Mechanics of Materials and Structures,” pp. 1–112, 2011.
Gdoutos, E.E. and Konsta-Gdoutos, M.S., (eds), “Proceedings of the First Greek-Russian Symposium on Advanced Solid and Fracture Mechanics,” pp. i-vii and 1-51, 2011.
Daniewicz, S.R., Belsick, C.A. and Gdoutos, E.E., (eds), “Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics: 38th Volume,” STP1546, pp. i-viii and 1-380, American Society for Testing and Materials ,2012. ISBN 978-0-8031-7532-7, ISSN 1040-3094
Gdoutos, E.E., Konsta-Gdoutos, M.S. and Goldstein, R., (eds), “Proceedings of the Second Greek-Russian Symposium on Advanced Solid and Fracture Mechanics,” pp. i-vii and 1-51, 2015. ISBN 978-960-6653-96-4
Gdoutos, E.E., "Statics Vol. I,” pp. 1-733, Symmetria Publishing, Athens, 2014. ISBN 978-960-11-0009-8.
Gdoutos, E.E., "Statics Vol. IΙ,” pp. 1-967, Symmetria Publishing, Athens, 2014. ISBN 978-960-266-002-7.
Gdoutos, E.E., (ed) “Comprehensive Composite Materials – II, Volume 1: Fiber Reinforcements and General Theory of Composites,” pp. i-xvi and 1-611, Elsevier, 2017.
Gdoutos, E.E., (ed) “Proceedings of the First International Conference on Theoretical, Applied and Experimental Mechanics,” pp. i-xv and 1-418, Springer, 2018.
Gdoutos, E.E., (ed) “Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Theoretical, Applied and Experimental Mechanics,” pp. i-xiv and 1-379, Springer, 2019.
Gdoutos, E.E., “Fracture Mechanics – An Introduction,” Third Edition, pp. i-xv and 1-477, Springer, 2020.
Gdoutos, E.E. and Konsta-Gdoutos, M. (eds) “Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Theoretical, Applied and Experimental Mechanics,” i-xiv and 1-364, Springer, 2020.
Gdoutos, E.E., “Experimental Mechanics – An Introduction,” pp. i-xxi and 1-311, Springer, 2022.
References
Members of the Academy of Athens (modern)
National Technical University of Athens alumni
Members of Academia Europaea
1948 births
Living people
California Institute of Technology faculty
Greek civil engineers
Fellows of the Society for Experimental Mechanics
People from Mytilene
Academic staff of the Democritus University of Thrace | Emmanuel Gdoutos | [
"Materials_science",
"Engineering"
] | 3,986 | [
"Structural engineering",
"Materials degradation",
"Materials science",
"Fracture mechanics"
] |
66,270,670 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CU-CPT9a | CU-CPT9a is a drug which acts as a potent and selective antagonist of Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8), with an IC50 of 0.5nM. Activation of toll-like receptors triggers release of cytokines and other signalling factors, leading to inflammation. This is an essential part of the immune system's response to infection, but chronic activation of TLR signalling is thought to be involved in various inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. CU-CPT9a has immunosuppressant properties, and may have applications in the treatment of autoimmune disorders, as well as being used in scientific research into the function of TLR8.
See also
CU-CPT4a
Imiquimod
Motolimod
References
Receptor antagonists | CU-CPT9a | [
"Chemistry"
] | 166 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Receptor antagonists",
"Neurochemistry"
] |
66,272,825 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nufenoxole | Nufenoxole (SC-27166) is an antidiarrhoeal drug which acts as a peripherally selective opioid agonist, in a similar manner to loperamide. while it is able to activate μ-opioid receptors, it fails to cross the blood–brain barrier and so has a selective action against diarrhoea without producing analgesic effects.
See also
Dipipanone
Dipyanone
Desmethylmoramide
References
Antidiarrhoeals
Mu-opioid receptor agonists
Oxadiazoles
Peripherally selective drugs
Abandoned drugs | Nufenoxole | [
"Chemistry"
] | 122 | [
"Pharmacology",
"Drug safety",
"Medicinal chemistry stubs",
"Pharmacology stubs",
"Abandoned drugs"
] |
66,273,285 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%20of%20international%20units | This list of international units is subsidiary to the list of units article and lists widely used modern units in a form of sortable table.
Notes | List of international units | [
"Mathematics"
] | 30 | [
"Quantity",
"Lists of units of measurement",
"Units of measurement"
] |
66,274,280 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braids%2C%20Links%2C%20and%20Mapping%20Class%20Groups | Braids, Links, and Mapping Class Groups is a mathematical monograph on braid groups and their applications in low-dimensional topology. It was written by Joan Birman, based on lecture notes by James W. Cannon, and published in 1974 by the Princeton University Press and University of Tokyo Press, as volume 82 of the book series Annals of Mathematics Studies.
Although braid groups had been introduced in 1891 by Adolf Hurwitz and formalized in 1925 by Emil Artin, this was the first book devoted to them. It has been described as a "seminal work", one that "laid the foundations for several new subfields in topology".
Topics
Braids, Links, and Mapping Class Groups is organized into five chapters and an appendix. The first introductory chapter defines braid groups, configuration spaces, and the use of configuration spaces to define braid groups on arbitrary two-dimensional manifolds. It provides a solution to the word problem for braids, the question of determining whether two different-looking braid presentations really describe the same group element. It also describes the braid groups as automorphism groups of free groups and of multiply-punctured disks.
The next three chapters present connections of braid groups to three different areas of mathematics. Chapter 2 concerns applications to knot theory, via Alexander's theorem that every knot or link can be formed by closing off a braid, and provides the first complete proof of the Markov theorem on equivalence of links formed in this way. It also includes material on the conjugacy problem, important in this area because conjugate braids close off to form the same link, and on the "algebraic link problem" (not to be confused with algebraic links) in which one must determine whether two links can be related to each other by finitely many moves of a certain type, equivalent to the homeomorphism of link complements. Chapter 3 concerns representation theory, and includes Fox derivatives and Fox's free differential calculus, the Magnus representation of free groups and the Gassner and Burau representations of braid groups. Chapter 4 concerns the mapping class groups of 2-manifolds, Dehn twists and the Lickorish twist theorem, and plats, braids closed off in a different way than in Alexander's theorem.
Chapter 5 is titled "plats and links". It moves from 2-dimensional topology to 3-dimensional topology, and is more speculative, concerning connections between braid groups, 3-manifolds, and the classification of links. It includes also an analog of Alexander's theorem for plats, where the number of strands of the resulting plat turns out to be determined by the bridge number of a given link. The appendix provides a list of 34 open problems. By the time Wilbur Whitten wrote his review, in June 1975, a handful of these had already been solved.
Audience and reception
This is a book for advanced mathematics students and professionals, who are expected to already be familiar with algebraic topology and presentations of groups by generators and relators. Although it is not a textbook, it could possibly be used for graduate seminars.
Reviewer Lee Neuwirth calls the book "most readable", "a nice mix of known results on the subject and new material". Whitten describes it as "thorough, skillfully written" and "a pleasure to read". Wilhelm Magnus finds it "remarkable" that while covering the subject with full mathematical rigor, Birman has preserved the intuitive appeal of some of its earliest works.
References
Mathematics books
1975 non-fiction books
Braid groups
Low-dimensional topology | Braids, Links, and Mapping Class Groups | [
"Mathematics"
] | 723 | [
"Topology",
"Low-dimensional topology"
] |
66,274,369 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enteractinococcus%20coprophilus | Enteractinococcus coprophilus is a bacterium from the genus of Enteractinococcus which has been isolated from the faeces of the Panthera tigris amoyensis from the Yunnan Wild Animal Park in China.
References
Bacteria described in 2012
Micrococcaceae
Bacteria
Micrococcales | Enteractinococcus coprophilus | [
"Biology"
] | 64 | [
"Prokaryotes",
"Microorganisms",
"Bacteria"
] |
66,274,868 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium%20bicarbonate | Lithium bicarbonate (LiHCO3) is a compound of lithium, hydrogen, carbon and oxygen.
See also
Lithium carbonate
References
Lithium compounds
Bicarbonates | Lithium bicarbonate | [
"Chemistry"
] | 34 | [
"Inorganic compounds",
"Inorganic compound stubs"
] |
66,275,532 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nofence | Nofence is a Norwegian company that makes GPS collars for farm animals (cattle, sheep, and goats) that discourage them from crossing virtual fences.
Oscar Hovde Berntsen has been working on the idea of virtual fencing, as an alternative to fixed electric fencing, since the 1990s. Nofence was incorporated in 2011. In 2016, there was a pilot project in Norway with 850 goats. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority approved the use of Nofence for goats in 2017, then for cattle and sheep in 2020. Nofence are based in Batnfjordsøra, Norway, with a UK office in Warwick.
The solar-powered collars play a melody "ringtone" when the animal reaches the fence, and if they continue, the collar delivers a small shock, similar to what an animal might receive from a fixed electric fence. Farmers can use a mobile app to change boundaries throughout the day, and avoid over-grazing. Fenceless grazing is being supported by conservationists and farmers, particularly in sensitive areas or difficult upland areas where physical fencing would be impractical, expensive or inappropriate.
In September 2020, The Times reported that trials were being conducted at six sites in the UK, including Epping Forest in Essex.
In December 2020, Nofence stated that 17,000 collars were in use in Norway.
References
External links
Official website
Fences
Perimeter security
Norwegian companies established in 2011
Manufacturing companies established in 2011
Livestock
Norwegian inventions
Global Positioning System
Companies based in Møre og Romsdal
Technology companies of Norway | Nofence | [
"Technology",
"Engineering"
] | 313 | [
"Global Positioning System",
"Wireless locating",
"Aircraft instruments",
"Aerospace engineering"
] |
66,276,115 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John%20M.%20Olson%20%28biophysicist%29 | John M. Olson (September 18, 1929 – July 2, 2017) was an American biophysicist and pioneer researcher in photosynthesis, especially light harvesting complex of green sulfur bacteria.
In 1962 Olson was the first to discover and characterize pigment-protein complex of green sulfur bacteria (Chlorobiota), which was later named after him as Fenna–Matthews–Olson complex. In 1980s he intensively studied bacteriochlorophyll self-assembly in chlorosomes of green sulfur and green non-sulfur bacteria.
References
Further reading
1929 births
2017 deaths
20th-century American scientists
Researchers of photosynthesis
Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog | John M. Olson (biophysicist) | [
"Chemistry"
] | 142 | [
"Biochemists",
"Photochemists",
"Photosynthesis",
"Researchers of photosynthesis"
] |
66,276,736 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track%20%28moving%20medium%29 | A track is a path on a recording medium. There are some variations in nomenclature; for some media a track is a logical (content based) path and for others it is based on the geometry of the medium.
The term is not used for punched cards.
Content-based tracks
The terms session, title or track may be used, depending on the medium.
LP
A track on a long playing record (LP) is a segment of the spiral groove recording a single movement, song or other work.
Usually, unrecorded sections of the groove guide the tone arm between consecutive tracks. However occasionally - for example on some language learning records - the tracks are not connected, and the tone arm must be moved manually to the next track's lead-in groove.
Optical disks
A track, session or title on an audiovideo optical disk is a segment recording a single movement, song or other work.
Geometry-based tracks
On some devices a track is defined based on the geometry of the medium, typically running for the full length or circumference.
Linear
On magnetic cards, magnetic strips and tape, tracks normally run the full length of the medium. Some devices record multiple tracks in parallel either to improve speed or to provide separate channels for, e.g., stereophonic sound.
Punched tape
On Punched tape, also known as paper tape, a track runs the length of the tape and all tracks are recorded in parallel. References to the number of tracks sometimes use the word channel or level. Five level tape is used for Baudot, eight-level for ASCII and twelve level for carriage control tapes.
Magnetic tape reels and cartridges
On analog audio tape, a track runs the length of the tape and typically contains a single channel; stereophonic and quadraphonic recording use multiple tracks.
On digital tape, a track runs the length of the tape; typically all tracks are written and read in parallel.
Magnetic cards and strips
On magnetic cards and magnetic strips used as storage media, a track runs the length of the card or strip; typically multiple tracks are written and read in parallel and considered to be a single logical track.
The NCR CRAM, RCA Model 3488 Random Access Computer Equipment and RCA 70/568-11 Mass Storage Unitused magnetic cards in a magazine (deck for CRAM).inch).
The IBM 2321 Data Cell used magnetic strips in a cell and subcell. The tracks had variable length count key data (CKD) records.
Magnetic stripe cards
Magnetic stripe cards are commonly used as credit cards, identity cards, and transportation tickets. Standardized cards contain up to three parallel tracks. Unusually, two different recording densities are used (210 and 75 bits per
Helical scan
On some videotape and magnetic tape media, a read/write head moves across the width of the tape while the tape is moving, providing a diagonal Helical scan. An example is the IBM 3850 Mass Storage System (MSS).
Rotating
A track on a rotating magnetic disk or drum normally runs for the circumference of the medium. All tracks on a magnetic drum have the same capacity.
Early rotating drives recorded bits at a constant angular density and all tracks had the same data capacity. On all contemporary disk drives a track contains fixed length sectors. However, some older disks and drums recorded variable length records, and the DASD subsystems supported for general use by IBM's flagship operating systems simulate the Count Key Data (CKD) organization.
The first disk drive, the 1957 IBM 350 disk storage, had ten 100 character sectors per track; the tracks on contemporary disk drives are substantially larger.
In the early days of the industry sectors were referred to by several other names.
Drums
All tracks on a rotating drum have the same data capacity. Early drums were used for main memory, and tracks were divided into fixed length words, typically 36 bits for use on binary computers and ten digits plus sign for use on decimal computers. Drums used for auxiliary storage typically had fixed length sectors, but the IBM 7320 on the IBM 7090 and 7094 had variable length records controlled by a format track and the IBM 2301, 2303 and 7320 on the S/360 had variable length CKD records.
Disks
The first disk drive, the 1957 IBM 350 disk storage, had ten 100 character sectors per track and recorded at a constant angular density; the tracks on contemporary disk drives are substantially larger and are recorded at a constant linear density, so that outer tracks contain more data than inner tracks. Most of the industry designed disk drives with fixed length sectors, however the IBM 1301 and IBM 1302 on the 7000 series had variable length records controlled by format tracks and all DASD on S/360 had variable length CKD records. Although IBM supports FBA and SCSI disk drives on IBM Z, its flagship z/OS operating system only has limited support for SCSI drives and requires CKD drives for most functions.
Virtual Geometry
Starting with the 3350, IBM offered disc drives with new geometries that could present the appearance of older disk drives. At the present time almost all IBM mainframes use DASD subsystems that look like 3390 drives but use SCSI disks and SSDs to actually store the data.
Notes
References
IBM2301
IBM2841-0
IBM2841-7
NCR315
RCA3301
RCA 70/500
Audio storage
Computer data storage
Computer memory
Computer storage devices
Computer storage media
Computer storage tape media
Film and video technology
Hard disk computer storage
Tape recording
Videotape | Track (moving medium) | [
"Technology"
] | 1,123 | [
"Computer storage devices",
"Recording devices",
"Tape recording"
] |
66,276,842 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max%20Planck%20Institute%20for%20Chemical%20Physics%20of%20Solids | The Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (MPI CPfS) () is a research institute of the Max Planck Society. Located in Dresden, Germany, the institute primarily conducts basic research in the natural sciences in the fields of physics and chemistry.
Mission
The MPI CPfS conducts research on modern solid state chemistry and physics. Key open questions include "understanding the interplay of topology and symmetry in modern materials, maximising the level of control in material synthesis, understanding the nature of the chemical bond in intermetallic compounds and studying giant response functions at the borderline of standard metallic and superconducting behaviour".
References
Chemical Physics of Solids
1995 establishments in Germany
Chemical research institutes
Research institutes established in 1995 | Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids | [
"Chemistry"
] | 146 | [
"Chemical research institutes",
"Chemistry organization stubs"
] |
66,277,135 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachygonosaurus | Pachygonosaurus (meaning "wide angled [vertebrae] lizard") is a genus of ichthyosaur from Upper Silesia, Poland (then part of the German Empire). It was described in 1916 by Friedrich von Huene and it has one single species, Pachygonosaurus robustus, based solely on the holotype, composed of two vertebral centra discovered in 1910, with a further three vertebrae also possibly belonging to the genus. Nowadays, Pachygonosaurus is considered a nomen dubium.
See also
Timeline of ichthyosaur research
References
Cited bibliography
Ichthyosaurs
Nomina dubia
Fossils of Poland
Fossil taxa described in 1916
Ichthyosauromorph genera | Pachygonosaurus | [
"Biology"
] | 146 | [
"Biological hypotheses",
"Nomina dubia",
"Controversial taxa"
] |
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